College of the Siskiyous

Liberal Arts and Sciences Department

Syllabus

History 17A: Early US History to 1877

Dave Bush

Course Information

• Course Title: United States History to 1877
• Course Number: History 17A
• Semester: Fall 2010
• Credit Hours: 3
• Meeting Time and Location: Online Class using Etudes

Instructor Information

• Dave Bush, Instructor
• Please email me through the Etudes email system. (From the left-hand-column menu select "Discussion and Private Messages."  Then click on "Private Messages."  In the new window, click on "New Topic."  Highlight my name in the box next to "To user."  Now type an appropriate subject line for your message, and then type your message to me in the big box and click "Submit.")  I usually answer Etudes emails within twenty-four hours to forty-eight (excluding weekends and holidays).

Catalog Course Description

• A survey of American history from pre-contact North America to 1877 with an emphasis on the evaluation of primary and secondary sources in order to enhance the student’s ability to critically evaluate various interpretations of U.S. history and gain insight into the historical past.  Topics covered in the course may include, but are not limited to: European colonization, causes of the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, the early republic, the rise of American political parties, the impact of westward expansion on the political culture of America, industrialization and economic development, the role of slavery in the American republic, and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Support Hour.
• Advisory: None.
• Prerequisites: None.
• Credit Applicability: AA, CSU, UC

Expected Student Outcomes

Through objective quizzes, written assignments, discussion board posts, and a final exam students will:

• Articulate a historical interpretation, utilizing secondary and primary source materials, while creating a written historical argument.
• Critically evaluate an interpretation of U.S. History to 1877.
• Critically analyze the evidence used by others to construct historical arguments.
• Evaluate the roles of the environment, ethnicity, class, and gender in the evolution of U.S. social, cultural, and political institutions over time.
• Evaluate U.S. History to 1877 in a comparative context.

Course Content

• What is History?
• The Columbian Exchange
  • Pre-Contact America
  • Mesoamerica and North America
• A New World Order
  • Europe 1000-1500
  • Voyages of Discovery
  • The Columbian Exchange
• Colonization of the Americas
  • Virginia and Jamestown
  • The Puritan Experiment
  • The Middle Colonies
• Slavery in the New World
  • The Caribbean and Race Slavery
  • The Atlantic Slave Trade
  • The Middle Passage
  • Slavery in North America
  • The Culture of Slavery
• Controlling a Continent
  • The Pueblo Revolt
  • Bacon’s Rebellion and Colonial Discontent
  • Salem Witch Trials
• Emerging “America”
  • The Rise of the Comanche and Sioux Expansion
  • The Great Awakening
  • Colonial Differences
• The American Revolution
  • Seven Years War
  • Origins of the Revolution
    • British Colonial and Economic Polices
    • Origins of the Revolutionary Spirit
• The War for Independence
  • Early American Defeats
  • “Starving the Army”
  • Saratoga
  • Franco-American Alliance
  • Treaty of Paris
• Building a Nation
  • The Articles of Confederation
  • Shay’s Rebellion
  • Rhode Island
  • Origins of the U.S. Constitution
• The Constitution
  • Three-fifths Compromise
  • New Jersey and Virginia Plans
  • The Bill of Rights
  • Ratification
• The Early Republic
  • Washington and the Early Political Tradition
  • Hamilton’s Vision
  • Jefferson’s Vision
  • American Political Parties
• Peace and War in the Early Republic
  • Peaceful Transfer of Power
  • Marshall Court
  • Madison’s War
  • An Era of Good Feelings for Whom?
• The Market Revolution and American Identity
  • Depressions and the Market Economy
  • The Economy of Slavery
  • The Missouri Compromise
• The Age of Jackson
  • Age of the Common Man
  • Jackson and Native Americans
    • Trail of Tears
    • Historiography
• The North and the South
  • The North
    • Industry and Labor
    • Social Divisions
  • Life in the South
    • Plantocracy
    • Non-Slave Owners
• Starting Down the Path to War
  • Manifest Destiny
  • Westward Expansion
  • The Mexican / American War
  • The Compromise of 1850
  • The Dred Scott Decision
• America’s Road to Civil War
  • Bleeding Kansas
  • The Rise of Republicans and the 1860 Election
  • Secession and Mobilization
• The War 1861-1865
  • Gettysburg
  • Grant and the West
• Rebuilding the Union
  • African Americans and Emancipation
  • Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments
  • The Compromise of 1877
  • Reconstruction Successes and Failures

Assigned and Recommended Texts

• Make sure you buy the correct volume and edition of each book!
• Required:
  • Title: The American Past: A Survey of American History, Volume I: To 1877
  • Author: Joseph Conlin
  • Publisher: Thomas Wadsworth
  • Edition: Ninth Edition
  • ISBN: 9780495572886
• Required:
  • Title: Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution
  • Author: Walter B. Edgar
  • Publisher: HarperCollins
  • Edition: 1^st Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780380806430
• Required:
  • Title: The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion
  • Author: Stephen Oates
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial
  • Edition: 1^st Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780060916701
• Recommended:
  • Title: English Simplified
  • Author: Blanche Ellsworth
  • Publisher: Longman
  • Edition: Twelfth
  • ISBN: 978-0-205-63329-6

Statement of Instructional Methods

• An Online Course:
  • This is an online course delivered through Etudes.
  • All assignments will be submitted through Etudes.
  • If you are new to online learning, please considering taking EDUC 90: Orientation to Online Learning with Etudes.
  • To access the class, read the Etudes Login Instructions.
  • Students should have access to a computer capable of quickly and reliably searching websites and sending and receiving emails. It is expected that students enrolled in this class know how to use their email software, navigate through websites, and use Etudes.
• The course is designed to acquaint students with prominent persons and major events in American history from the pre-Columbian world to the end of Reconstruction, to acquaint students with the ways average people reacted to major events during this period, and to enhance students' analytical and critical thinking skills.
• The class is divided into several modules.  In most cases, each module has objective quizzes, a written assignment, and a discussion forum.
• The Important Class Information (ICI) module and Module 1 require web readings only; therefore, you can complete all the required work for these modules even if you do not have your textbook!
• Intro Quiz:
  • The Intro Quiz in the ICI module is based on the Syllabus, Class Schedule, Written Assignment Instructions, and other documents in the ICI module.
  • This quiz is for your benefit, and you can take it as often as needed to earn a 100% score.  Start the semester with an "A"!
  • You will find a link to the Intro Quiz inside the Important Class Information module.
• Quizzes:
  • Quizzes are based on information in the required books.
  • You can take each quiz only once.  Each quiz is timed.  Once you begin to take a quiz, you may not stop.
  • Quizzes have objective questions.
  • A quiz may be taken during the time we are studying the module in which the chapter is being discussed.  Quizzes open at 12:15am and close at 11:45pm.  You must submit your work before 11:45pm on the due date.  (See the Class Schedule for dates.)
  • Links to the quiz(zes) are found inside each module.
• Written Assignments:
  • Written assignments are based on information from websites, the required class books, or other assigned readings.  (Module 1 requires you to only answer questions based on website readings, so you can complete this module even if you do not have the class books.)
  • Written assignments may be submitted anytime the module is being discussed.  Written assignments open at 12:15am on the first day and close at 11:45pm on the last day a module is being discussed.  You must submit your work before 11:45pm on the due date.  (See the Class Schedule for dates.)
  • See the Important Class Information Module for additional information on answering written assignment questions.
• Discussion Board:
  • Students are expected to participate by making relevant, thoughtful, constructive and respectful posts on the Discussion Board at least thrice per week.  At least one of your posts each week needs to be made by Wednesday.  Posts should be based in fact, not in feelings.  Posts should tie into the current module's readings.  Your posts should demonstrate your critical thinking skills.
  • Throughout a module's discussion period, I will post at least one starter discussion question on the Discussion Board relevant to that module.  Students are encouraged to respond to this question, and or respond to other students' posts, and or begin their own discussion thread by posting questions of their own based on class readings.  I am particularly impressed by students who draw connections between the historical period under study and the present.
  • At least three posts need to be made each week.  For grading purposes, posts need to be made at least one day (twenty-four hours) apart.  At least one of your posts each week needs to be made by Wednesday.  However, students are encouraged to make more than three posts each week, and it is acceptable to make more than one post each day.
  • See the Important Class Information Module for additional information on making discussion board posts.
• Test:
  • There is one objective test based on information from the textbook.
  • Approximately forty percent of the questions are taken from the quizzes.  The remaining questions will be new to you.
  • You may not have help from anyone else when taking the test.
  • The test is open for one day only!  You must take the test on its due date between 12:15am and 11:45pm.
  • More detailed information about the test will be posted near the end of the semester.

Evaluation, Grading, and Determination of Final Grade

• Quizzes:
  • Quiz questions are worth one point each.
  • One day after the the module closes, your score and the correct answers will be available.  Some people may ask, "Why can't I get my score right after I finish the quiz?"  In previous semesters I sent student scores out immediately after the quiz was completed.  However, students have suggested it would be helpful if they received the correct answers as well as their quiz scores; this way quiz questions can be studied in preparation for the final.  Since it would be unfair to release quiz answers before all students have taken a quiz, the best solution is to release student scores and correct answers only after the modules close.
• Written Assignments:
  • Short answer questions are worth five points.
  • Essay answer questions are worth twenty points.
  • See the Important Class Information module for more detailed instructions on answering written assignments.
  • I try to grade all written assignments before you submit your next assignment, but sometimes it may be longer.
• Discussion Board:
  • Posts are worth a total of one hundred points!
  • Twice during the semesters you will select some of your best post for grading.  Fifty points will be awarded approximately half-way through the class based on posts to date.  At the end of the semester, the remaining fifty points will be awarded based on second-half-of-semester posts.
  • See the Class Schedule for the First Half Discussion Assessment and the Second Half Discussion Assessment due dates.  You will only have about forty-eight hours to submit each assessment, so keep your eyes on the Class Schedule.
  • Detailed instructions on submitting posts for grading will appear on the class website's Modules page.
• Test:
  • The test is worth one hundred points.
  • Approximately forty percent of the Test questions are taken from the quizzes.
  • The test is not returned.
• Life Happens Points:
  • Unexpected events occur in all our lives.  Sometimes our schedules are interrupted with rather insignificant events such as a last-minute work schedule change, a power outage, or a vehicle malfunction.  Other times the unforeseen event is serious; a close friend dies, a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness and must spend time in the hospital, or you might be in an accident.  Events such as these might result in you missing some class work.
  • Therefore, since life happens, at the end of the semester, I will add ten points to everyone's grade.  If you complete all the module quizzes and written assignments, these added points will be extra credit points.  If, for whatever reason (including adding the class from the Wait List after the first module), you miss a quiz or written assignment, you will be able to maintain your grade in the course.
  • This means there are no make-up quizzes or written assignments - no matter how tragic the circumstance.  Remember, the Life Happens Points won't let you fall behind if you miss some work.
• Grade Breakdown:
  • Quizzes              = 170 points    =  34.69%
  • Written Assignments  = 120 points    =  24.49%
  • Discussions          = 100 points    =  20.41%
  • Final                = 100 points    =  20.41%
  • Total Points         = 490 points    = 100.00%
• Grade Determination:
  • Grades are based on the quality of the work submitted - not on the amount of effort put into the work.  Now, there is often a correlation between how hard one works and one's grade, but simply working hard does not guarantee any particular grade.
  • At the end of the semester I will add up each student's grades.  Students who earned 90% or more of the total possible points will receive an "A," 80% or more equals a "B," 70% percent or more is a "C," 60% or more is a "D," and below 60% is a "F."
  • You can determine where you stand anytime during the semester by doing some simple math.  To find your percentage, multiple the points you have earned by 100 then divide the result by the maximum possible points at that time.   That will give you your percentage in the class.
  • The instructor has absolute and final discretion in awarding grades.

Class Policies

• Attendance:
  • Students are responsible for logging onto the website at least three days each week.
• Class Participation:
  • While this is an online class, it is not an independent study class.
  • Class participation (through discussion board posts) is a critical part of this class.
• Computer Requirements and Literacy:
  • Students should have access to a computer capable of quickly and reliably searching websites and sending and receiving emails. It is expected that students enrolled in this class know how to use their email software and navigate through websites.
  • While this does not happen often, you may be asked to go to a website requiring a high-speed connection.  It is the student's responsibility to access these sites.
  • You are responsible for knowing how to use Etudes.
• Self-Motivation:
  • One key difference between taking a class online compared to a traditional class is that the online class requires significantly more self-discipline.  The student is responsible for monitoring her or his own progress.  If you are not self-motivated and self-disciplined, it would be better for you to take this course in the traditional way.
• Missed Quizzes or Assignments:
  • Print out a copy of the Class Schedule (found in the ICI module) and keep it handy.
  • Because you know all the due dates far in advance and because you may take the quizzes and submit the written work anytime during the period we are discussing the module, late work is not accepted.
  • Since quizzes, written assignments, and the final are open over an extended period of time, there is no reason for work to be late; if you have a computer that crashes, there are electrical storms in your area, or you have unexpected events occur in your life, submit work very early so you will have time to fix any problems or find another computer on which to submit work or take quizzes if an issue arises.
  • Power outages and computer crashes are not excuses for late work.
  • Being without a textbook (for whatever reason) or having the wrong book is not a valid excuse for late work.
  • Adding the class late is not a valid excuse for late work.
  • Attempting to submit work or take a quiz and receiving a message of "Server is too busy," or some other error message, is not an excuse for late work because quizzes, written assignments, the final, and other work are open over an extended period of time during which the work may be submitted. Warning, do not wait until the last minute (or hour or even day) to submit your work.
  • The class website can slow down when many people are online at the same time. Inability to access work, submit work, complete work, or the like because of a slow connection is not an excuse for late work. Submit your work early to avoid such troublesome issues.
  • It is your responsibility to know how to use the world wide web and Etudes.
  • If you miss a quiz or two, all is not lost.  See my previous comments concerning the Life Happens Points.

College Policies

• Drop Policy:
  • IT IS THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO DROP THE CLASS.  You must notify the Admissions Office if you want to drop the class.
• Withdrawal Policy:
  • IT IS THE STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO WITHDRAWAL FROM THE CLASS.  You must notify the Admissions Office if you want to withdrawal from the class.
• Students on the roster at the end of the semester will be assigned a course grade.
• I may drop inactive students - particularly during the first two weeks of class to make room for students seeking to add the class.  This, however, in no way guarantees I will drop inactive students.
• Incomplete Policy:
  • College's Policy: "Incomplete academic work for unforeseeable emergency and justifiable reasons at the end of the term may result in an "I" symbol being entered in the student's record." (College of the Siskiyous Catalog)
  • Dave's Policy: In addition to the above requirements, to be consider for an Incomplete you: (1) must make the request after the last day to withdraw from the class, (2) must have completed all work, or missed no more than one quiz or one written assignment, due in the class before the day you request an Incomplete, and (3) must have at least an 80% grade average on that work.
• Academic Honesty:
  • Please read the College Behavior Guidelines found in the College of the Siskiyous Catalog.
  • Any student caught cheating risks receiving an "F" for the semester.
  • Disruptive, abusive, or threatening students will, at the minimum, be dropped from the class.
• Accommodation of Disability:
  • Students have the right to request reasonable modifications to college requirements, services, facilities or programs if their documented disability imposes an educational limitation or impedes access to requirements, services, facilities or programs. A student with a disability who requests a modification, accommodation, or adjustment is responsible for requesting necessary accommodations by identifying himself/herself to the instructor and, if desired, to the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) office in Eddy Hall 1.
  • Students with a print disability—a visual or reading difficulty that limits access to traditional print materials—may request printed materials in alternate media. Examples of alternate media formats include electronic format (e.g., text on CD), Braille, tactile graphics, audiotape, and/or large print. Students can make alternate media requests through the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) office in Eddy Hall 1, 530-938-5297.
  • Students who consult or request assistance from DSP&S regarding specific modifications, accommodations, adjustments, alternate text or use of auxiliary aids will be required to meet timelines and procedural requirements established by the DSP&S office.
  • Verification of the disability is required to determine and provide appropriate services.
  • If you feel that you will need academic accommodations in this class due to limits imposed by a disability you must contact the Disability Student Program and Services Office (530-938-5297 or 888-397-4339 or TTY: 530-938-5358 or DSPS@siskiyous.edu) to make the necessary arrangements.  For more information, visit the DSPS website.

Tentative Course Sequence

• The Class Schedule has all the due dates for the semester.  This is an important document; keep it handy.
• Please print out a copy of the Class Schedule.
• To access the Class Schedule log into the class and go to the Modules page, open the Important Class Information module, then open and read the Class Schedule.

Disclaimer

• The above is subject to change at the discretion of "The Decider."

Read this Syllabus again.

Why attend a history class?  Besides obtaining GE units, it is impossible to fully understand the present without knowledge of the past. Over two thousand years ago the Roman statesman and author Cicero expressed this point when he wrote, "To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."