HIS 108 - HISTORY OF U.S. THROUGH 1865
- For help with Faragher's Out of Many textbook, click HERE for an
interactive WWW Study Guide.
- To go on a tour of local historic sites as seen through the
eyes of our students, click HERE.
Course Description and Objectives:
This course traces the nation's development through the Civil
War. It is designed to meet the
demands for a general understanding of American history. This
course fulfills the
requirements for the elementary teachers' certificate.
By the end of the term, students should be able to:
- read
and evaluate historical
resources critically; and
- demonstrate an understanding of the cultural, economic,
literary, political, religious, and
social values related to the period covered by this course.
Successful completion of this course will satisfy half of your
B.A. degree's University Studies
Program Cross-Disciplinary Requirement -- taking English 251 will
fulfill the other half.
COURSE OUTLINE:
HOPES, DREAMS, AND REALITY
Questions to Consider
- What are the goals and motives behind European
exploration and colonization of
the New World?
- How did the colonists respond to the "wilderness" of their
New World, e.g., reactions to
Native Americans, to phenomenon of "witchcraft"?
Suggested Topics to Discuss:
Whose Land? Europe's vision and Native Americans
First Encounters: Spanish vs. Aztecs; English vs. Powhatans;
French vs. Hurons
Culture Clash: New England vs. Va., coast vs. inland, white vs.
red and black, men vs.
women
Prosperity in Colonial Society: slavery & trade triangle
A TIME OF REASON AND REVOLUTION
Questions to Consider:
- What were the basic tenets of Enlightenment thought and
how did this thought
impact 18th century American society?
- How did the "older" culture and the "newer" culture in 18th
century America conflict in
their values and aspirations?
- Was the Federal Republic and the Constitution the solution to
the needs of the newly
independent nation?
Suggested Topics to Discuss:
Rebellion: Enlightenment, Great Awakening and violence;
Declaration of Independence and
war
Constitutional Convention: states rights and Mr. Shay; The
"Founding Fathers" and the
conservative '90s
Jeffersonian Presidencies: a weak-strong executive; War of 1812;
revolution complete?
DEFINING AN AMERICAN IDENTITY
Questions to Consider:
-
What was the nature and extent of the new American
nationalism?
-
What is the impact of the Romantic perspective on the early 19th
century?
-
Why did the mid-19th century become fraught with fears and
dissension, and how did
Americans resolve these?
Suggested Topics to Discuss:
"American System": moving West; Clay's system, compromise, &
bargain; Monroe's
hemisphere -- national or sectional?
Jacksonian Democracy: "The King" or "Man of the People"?
Labor and Technology: man, machine and a market economy --
government's role in the new
society
Religion and the Intellect: 2nd Great Awakening;
Transcendentalists, utopias, reformers and
activists
Slavery becomes the Single Issue: abolitionism defined; Polk's
Manifest Destiny and
Mexico
1850s: fast and furious; what causes war or keeps peace?
The Anaconda's Hell: from Fort Sumter to Gettysburg & Vicksburg,
to Appomattox; who
won?
Sample Writing Exercise: A Kentuckian's Story
This assignment is to get you into the shoes of someone here in
Kentucky and write her or
his story, explaining a national event we studied in class from
her or his perspective. You
should take the following steps in completing this
assignment.-
Step #1: Choose a Person and Setting. You can make up a
person or research an
actual person who lived in Kentucky before 1865. Either way you
need to know where and
when they lived. Think about how old they are when they would be
telling this story, what
are their living conditions, and who are in their key circle of
kin and friends.
- Step #2: Prepare a biographical chronology (1-2 pages,
pass/fail). Write out a
time line on which you place important dates in your subject's
life. These include events in
which the person participated and events that were important to
the person. The choronology
should include both objective material (dates of birth, marriage,
children's births, and
information about occupation, education, public service, and
military service) as well as
subjective material (dates of at least one national event that
you have chosen for the subject
to analyze, including dates of meetings with other people,
travel, reading of a particularly
influential book or article, listening to a speech, etc.). Use
newspapers, pamphlets, historical
monographs and your textbook to make sure you have a sketch of
when/where/what your
narrative will include. A chronology can be very detailed, but
you must know what to omit
as well as what to include! Attach a bibliography of your
sources, and turn in by midterm
for approval.
- Step #3: Write a narrative (5-8 pages typed). Using
your subject's voice
(whether a fictional or historical character), write a narrative
that creatively describes how
that person experienced life in this area of our country before
1865. This narrative is due
during the scheduled final exam time.
Click on the icon below to see the choices for R.
Hollingsworth's HIS108 Written Project Assignment.
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| A Kentuckian's Story |