Professor Richard Weiner

Office: CM 205

Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday: 10:30-12:00 (and by appointment)

Office Phone: (260) 481-6692

E-Mail: weinerr@ipfw.edu

Fall Semester, 2007

History 105: American History to 1877

DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE

(HIST-H105-09I)

Content of this syllabus:

1. Course Information, Materials, and Requirements

2. Exam Information

3. Midterm and Final Exam Study Guides

4. Written Assignments

5. Titles of History 105 Lectures Sessions (Access Lectures on internet via WebCT)

6. Prof. Weiner’s Lecture Outlines for the Entire Semester

1. Course Information and Requirements

Course Guide Description: This syllabus includes ALL information about this course, including class requirements, class materials, contact information, tests, written assignments, and information about links to video lectures.

Contact Information: I encourage students to contact me if they have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the course. Communications sent via E-mail <weinerr@ipfw.edu> will be responded to quickly, since I check my E-mail frequently. The telephone (office phone, listed above) is another way to contact me. If I am not in my office you can leave a message and I will return your call. You can also come to see me in my office during office hours. If my office hours are inconvenient another time can be arranged. Since students’ tests and written assignments will be mailed to their home address automatically, it is not necessary to contact me to obtain your exams, assignments, and grades. For distance learning questions that do not pertain specifically to this course I suggest that you contact the Distance Learning office (260-481-6111).

Course Description: Through lectures, readings, and assignments this course introduces students to social, political, and economic developments in American History from the age of discovery to 1877. This course counts toward fulfillment of the General Education area III requirement.

Course Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course students will be better able to:

1. Interpret major developments in U.S. history to 1877.

2. Connect events and explain the relationship between them.

3. Analyze information and arrange it in a coherent overview

4. Assess source material and analyze its meaning.

5. Appreciate the diversity of American experiences.

Assessment of Course Learning Outcomes via exams and written assignments which requires students to:

1. Analyze major historical developments such as colonialism and revolution, slavery and emancipation, and war and reconstruction (on section “B” of exams).

2. Analyze the effects of historical events and actors (on section “A” of exams).

3. Write analytical and well organized historical essays (on section “B” of exams).

4. Analyze and interpret primary historical documents (on written assignments).

5. Compare and contrast the experiences of diverse American groups (on sections “B” and “C” of exams and on written assignments).

Course Requirements:

1) Exams: a Mid-term Exam and a Final Exam, each of which is worth one-third of the course grade.

2) Written assignments: Two written assignments, each of which is worth one-sixth of the course grade.

Unlike the in-classroom-students, there is NO Quiz requirement for Distance Learning students.

Required Course Materials

Required Texts:

1. Michael P. Johnson, Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents (vol. 1: to 1877) Third Edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. In the class schedule below this text is abbreviated as American Past.

2. Michael P. Johnson, et. al., The American Promise: A History of the United States (vol. 1: to 1877), Third Edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. In the class schedule below this text is abbreviated as American Promise.

Purchasing Course texts: purchase at the University Bookstore, which is located in Kettler G10. The bookstore’s phone number is (260) 483-6100. You can also purchase the course materials on-line. Follow the links from the bookstore’s WEB page. Another option is to go directly to: efollett.com

Audiovisual Material: History 105 Lecture Sessions. Access lectures on internet via WebCT. There are no Videos or DVDs.

General Advice to do well in the course: The two sources of information for this course are the lectures (that is, the audiovisual material) and the assigned readings. To do well you need to master the material in both these areas. Thus, taking detailed lecture notes and reading the assigned texts carefully is essential (we read all chapters of both texts). On exams I will expect you to include information from both lectures and assigned texts. Since the study guides indicate exactly what you need to examine you should be able to focus your studying on the pertinent material in the lectures and texts.

2. EXAM INFORMATION

There are 2 exams: a mid-term exam and a final exam. Each exam is worth 1/3 of the final course grade.

Exam testing sites:

1. Exams taken at ACCS Testing Services, which is located in room 232 B Kettler Hall, at IPFW. You must contact the testing center (260-481-6600) to schedule a specific exam date and time. Schedule your exam time early because space is limited. Bring a photo ID.

2. For special circumstances (especially students who live far away from IPFW) students may be able to take proctored exams in their own community. Proctored exams are often given in libraries and schools. Contact Distance Learning at IPFW to locate local proctor sites. Proctored exams must be scheduled through Distance Learning at IPFW.

Test times:

Monday: 10 AM: 1 PM; 3 PM; 5:45 PM

Tuesday: 10 AM: 1 PM; 3 PM; 5:45 PM

Wednesday: 10 AM: 1 PM; 3 PM; 5:45 PM

Thursday: 10 AM: 1 PM; 3 PM; 5:45 PM

Friday: 10 AM; 1 PM

Saturday: 9:30 AM

Sunday: Closed.

Test Dates:

Midterm: October 6 2007 through October 15 2007.

Final: December 6 2007 through December 15 2007.

3. Exams Study Guides

Instructor Feedback and Guidance: There are NO multiple choice or fill in the blanks components to exams. Exams are entirely essay format. There are 3 exam sections: 1) terms; 2) essay; 3) passage analysis. If you want guidance as you are preparing for an exam I encourage you to contact me. Feel free to ask a question or to send an outline answer that I can comment on. Perhaps E-mail is the fastest and most efficient way to send questions and receive guidance, but also feel free to call on the phone or schedule an in-person consultation at my office.

Midterm Study Guide

The midterm covers chapters 1 through 8 in the two course texts and the corresponding lecture material. Include information from the course texts and class lectures on your exam. The only thing that you need to bring to the mid-term is a pen or pencil to write with, and some form of Photo Identification. An exam booklet will be provided for you to take your exam. You may NOT use any notes when taking the exam. You will have 90 minutes to take the exam. You should answer exam questions with complete sentences. However, if you find that you are running out of time you should switch to outline form. It is MUCH better to finish in outline form than to stop before you have completed the exam.

The Mid-term has 3 parts: A) Terms; B) Essay; and C) and a Passage Analysis selection from American Past. Section B is worth 50% your exam grade. Sections A and C are each worth 25% of your exam grade. You should dedicate about half your time to section B, and roughly a quarter of your time to A and a quarter of your time to section C (however, some students find that section C takes a little longer than section A, so budget time accordingly).

Part A: Terms. Answers have 2 parts:

· 1) Description of the term: A description provides answers to the “W” questions: who/what is the term? Where did the term take place? When did the term happen?

· 2) Explanation of historical significance of the term: How and to what extent did the specific term affect the course of history? An effective analytical strategy to answer this question is to consider a term’s social, economic, and political significance. (However, in some instances a term may not have all three.) Another acceptable strategy is to list as many ways a term shaped history as you can.

· While quantity is by no means the only ingredient in an effective answer, successful answers to a term often require a full single-sided page in a blue book or more.

I will select SEVEN of the following terms and put them on the exam. You will be required to answer TWO of them:

Arawaks (Tainos); Aztecs(Mexica); Algonquian Indians; League of 5 Nations (Iroquois); Opechancanough; Christopher Columbus; Hernando Cortes; John Smith; William Penn; John Locke; Thomas Paine; John Winthrop; Biblical Commonwealth; Precious metals; Sugar; Tobacco; Fur Trade; Mercantilism; Navigation Acts; Triangular Trade; indentured servants; Head-right system; English Colonization of Ireland; Spanish Re-Conquest of Spain; Pequot War; Bacon’s Rebellion; French and Indian War; Shays’ Rebellion; Stamp Act; Townshend Duties; Boston Massacre; Boston Tea Party; Coercive Acts; Continental Congress; Articles of Confederation; Federalists; Anti-Federalists

Part B: The Essay. Essays will be evaluated on three criteria:

· 1) Thesis. Simply put, the thesis is your main argument. The thesis is a concise response to the essay question. Put your thesis in the introductory paragraph. An effective thesis is usually argumentative. An effective thesis is also perceptive and demonstrates a strong grasp of the subject matter.

· 2) Content. The content is the historical facts and evidence that you use to support your thesis in the body of the essay. You are expected to provide a detailed account that includes specific historical events and developments. The more specific content the better. You are required to include relevant information from lectures and the assigned texts, especially American Promise. While quantity is not the only criteria that you are graded on, successful answers often require 5 blue book single-sided pages or more.

· 3) Style. Style refers to how well the essay is organized. Develop and organize your essay in a way that is easy for the reader to follow and also emphasizes your main argument.

· 4) Quantity. While quantity is by no means the only ingredient in an effective answer, successful answers to essay questions often require five single-sided pages in a blue book or more.

Below are 3 essay themes. For the exam, I will formulate one essay question, which will be based on a single theme or a combination of themes. Consequently, on the exam you will not have a choice for the essay. You will be required to answer the single question provided.

Compare and contrast the course, style, and consequences of English and Spanish Colonization. Discuss the era of Columbus’s “discovery” through the mid-1700s. (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in your texts and the corresponding lecture material).

Compare and contrast Britain’s Northern, Middle, Southern, and Caribbean Colonies. Discuss British colonization during the 1600s and 1700s in your answer. (This essay focuses heavily on chapters 3, 4, and 5 in your texts and the corresponding lecture material. However, you will find a small amount of relevant information in chapter 1 on pre-Columbian societies and in chapter 2.)

Analyze the causes, process, and consequences of the American Revolution (especially consider the experiences of different races, social classes, and genders). (Discuss the 1750s through the 1780s in your answer, a period covered in chapters 6, 7, and 8 in your texts and the corresponding lecture material).

Part C: Passage Analysis. Students will be required to summarize and compare and contrast two or more reading passages from American Past. Students’ task is to carefully analyze the content of the passages and provide evidence—in the form of summaries of content of passages or short quotes—to support their analysis. Effective answers will provide complete answers to the specific questions I ask about the passages. Passages will be reproduced on your exam sheet.

Example of part C from a previous exam (You will NOT have this question on your exam).

The following excerpts from Reading the American Past, which were written during the era of the American Revolution, are about women. To what extent are these excerpts about women in Revolutionary America similar? To answer this question, compare and contrast all the excerpts.

Thomas Paine makes a case for Independence

But there is . . . [a] distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. MALES and FEMALES are the distinctions of nature . . . but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest . . . is worth inquiring into.

Abigail Adams to John Adams

Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.

John Adams to Abigail Adams

We know better than to repeal our masculine systems. Altho they are in full Force, you know they are little more than theory. We dare not exert our power in its full latitude. We are obliged to go fair, and softly, and in practice you know We are the subjects. We have only the Name of Masters, and . . . [to] give up this . . . would completely subject Us to the Despotism of the Petticoat . . .

Benjamin Rush proposes Republican education

[Women] should not only be instructed in the usual branches of female education but they should be instructed in the principles of liberty and government, and the obligations of patriotism should be inculcated upon them. The opinions and conduct of men are often regulated by the women in the most arduous enterprises of life, and their approbation is frequently the principal reward of the hero’s dangers and the patriot’s toils. Besides, the first impressions upon the minds of children are generally derived from women.

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Final Exam Study Guide

The final exam covers chapters 9 through 16 in each of the course books and the corresponding lecture material. The format of the final is identical to the midterm. And you will have the same amount of time—90 minutes—to take the final as you had to take the midterm. You should follow the mid-term instructions when preparing to take the final.

Part A: Terms

I will select seven of the following terms and put them on the exam. You will be required to answer TWO of them.

Wilmot Proviso; Manifest Destiny; Free labor Ideology; William Lloyd Garrison; Compromise of 1850; Missouri Compromise; Kansas-Nebraska Act; Cotton; Seneca Falls Convention; Lowell factory System; Tariff of Abominations; The Bank War; William Sherman; John Brown; Ku Klux Klan; Dred Scott; Lincoln-Douglas Debates; Share Cropping; Mexican-American War; Black Codes; Radical Reconstruction; Compromise of 1877; Freedmen’s Bureau; Emancipation Proclamation; Charles Sumner; the 13^th Amendment; the 14^th Amendment; the 15^th Amendment; Alexander Hamilton; Agrarian Republic; Nat Turner; Frederick Douglas; Trail of Tears; Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa; Homestead Act; the Gold Rush

Part B: Essay

· The process of Northern industrialization and its social, political, and economic impact. (Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12, in your texts and the corresponding lectures have relevant information.)

· The course of Western expansion and its impact on different ethnicities, races, nationalities, and genders. (Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 in your texts and the corresponding lectures have relevant information.)

· The political process of Reconstruction and its impact on different races, social classes/groups, political parties, and genders in the South. (Chapters 13, 15, and 16 in your texts and the corresponding lectures have relevant information.)

Part C: Passage analysis. See example and instructions above on mid-term study guide.

4. Written Assignments

Assignment Description: There are 2 written assignments. Each assignment is worth 1/6 of your final course grade. Assignments are based entirely on your course text Reading the American Past (Selected Historical Documents). At the very end of each chapter there is a group of four or five questions called “Comparative Questions.” (The page numbers of the “Comparative Questions” are listed in the Table of Contents.) These questions require you to compare and contrast all the documents in a given chapter. For both assignments you are required to answer “Comparative Question” # 1 from each assigned chapter. The first assignment covers chapters 1-8(comparative question # 1 in chapters 1-8). The second assignment covers chapters 9-16(comparative question # 1 in chapters 9-16).

Assignment Requirements: Unless the question specifically directs you to comment on only certain documents, you must discuss all the documents in the chapter. If a specific document does not seem to have relevant information regarding the question, then say so and briefly explain how the content of the document departs from the issues raised in the question. Assignments must be typed and double-spaced. Each answer must be between one and-a-half and two pages long. ANSWERS THAT ARE SHORTER OR LONGER THAN THE REQUIRED LENGTH WILL BE MARKED DOWN.

Specific Grading Criteria: The comparative questions can be thought of as mini-essay questions. Thus the same basic three criteria—thesis, content, and style—that applied to the essays in section “B” of exams will be used to evaluate the writing assignments. 1) Your concise answer to the question is equivalent to the “thesis” in the essay. The first sentence of your answer should be this concise answer. In evaluating your concise response I will be asking: How precise and perceptive is the response to the comparative question? 2) Content. The content is where you support your concise response with evidence from the documents. Your grade will be determined by how effectively and completely evidence from the documents is used to support the response. To provide evidence you can either summarize information from the documents or use SHORT quotations. Make sure you discuss all the documents (unless the question specifies otherwise). 3) Style. Style addresses the question: Is the answer well written and organized?

General Writing Tip: Don’t summarize the documents. Rather, focus on document information that is relevant to the question.

Help in Writing Assignments: Class discussions will cover the documents in American Past. However, discussions will focus on the “Questions for Reading and Discussion” at the end of each document, not the “Comparative Questions” at the end of the chapter (that you are required to answer). Nevertheless, these class discussions should help you to understand the documents and thus aid you in answering the “Comparative Questions.” If you need more guidance on written assignments don’t hesitate to contact George Minehart, my teaching assistant. He will be helping me grade the written assignments. Contact him via e-mail: minegg01@yahoo.com

Also feel free to contact me with your questions about written assignments.

Written Assignments Due Dates:

Assignment 1: October 10

Assignment 2: December 10

Late papers are marked down 2 points per day (weekend days are not counted). Thus, a paper that is one week late is marked down a full letter grade.

Turning in Written Assignments: Assignments turned in via WebCT.

Academic Honesty: You must do your own work on your papers. You may not work together. Since I compare students’ written assignments (with assignments from the current and past semesters) it is quite easy to determine if students are doing their own work or not. You should be warned that in the past I have determined that students have worked together even if their papers were not identical. If I rule that you have not done your own work on any portion of the assignment you will get NO CREDIT for the assignment (a grade of “0”, which is far lower than an “F”, which is a score of “55”. Despite this warning, every semester I end up failing students for not doing their own work.

5. Titles of History 105 Lectures Sessions, available on the internet via WebCT.

Set One: Lectures for Midterm Exam

1. Course Introduction

2. Chapter 1: Pre-Columbian Societies and Aztecs’ rise to power

3. Chapter 1: Aztec Society

4. Chapter 2: European Expansion and the New World

5. Chapter 2: Columbus in the Caribbean and Conquest of Mexico

6. Chapter 2: Colonial Mexico (continues beginning session 7)

7. Chapter 3: English in the Chesapeake I

8. Chapter 3: English in the Chesapeake II

9. Chapter 3: New World Slavery; Midterm Discussion: Part A

10. Chapter 4: Colonial New England I

11. Chapter 4: Colonial New England II

12: Chapter 4: Colonial New England and Middle Colonies

13: Chapter 5: Colonial Economy

14. Midterm Exam Preparation: Part B (Essay)

15: Chapter 5: Commerce, Society, and Politics (18^th Century)

16. Guest Lecture: Blacks and the Civil War (examine for final)

17. Chapter 6: 7 Years’ War

18. Chapter 6: Taxes and Conflict between Britain and Colonies

19. Chapter 7: American Revolution

20. Midterm Exam Preparation and Chapter 8: Building a Republic I

21. Chapter 8: Building a Republic II

Set Two: Lectures for Final Exam

23. Chapter 9: Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists

24: Chapter 9: Federalists’ Domestic Policies

25. Chapter 9: Federalists’ Foreign Policy

26. Midterm exam remarks and Chapter 10: Jeffersonians

27. Chapter 10: Jeffersonians’ Indian and Foreign Policies

28. Chapter 11: Market Revolution I

29. Chapter 11: Market Revolution II and Andrew Jackson

30. Chapter 11: Limits to Jacksonian Democracy

31. Chapter 12: Mexico and Western Expansion

32. Chapter 12: Western Expansion: Homesteads and California

33. Chapter 13: Slavery and the South

34. Chapter 14: Sectionalism from Cultural Perspective

35. Chapter 14: Sectional Politics and Events Leading to War

36. Chapter 15: Civil War I

37. Chapter 15: Civil War II

38. Chapter 16: Reconstruction I

39: Chapter 16: Reconstruction II and Final Exam Prep

6. WebCT/Internet Lecture outlines

These outlines highlight main lecture themes and content.

The textbook chapters that correspond to the lectures are listed as headings in bold capital letters. However, the lectures frequently include material that is not in the textbook, even though lectures cover the same time period. Thus, the contents of the lectures and the textbook are complementary, not repetitive. You are required to include information from both the lectures and the texts on your exams.

1. ANCIENT AMERICA, BEFORE 1492

1. No Indians exist before 1492

1992 Meeting of Indians from all over Americas on the 500^th anniversary of Columbus=s Adiscovery.@
Absence of Pan-Indian identity prior to 1492
The construction of Indian identity over centuries
One thing that does unify indigenous people, however: their isolation from Europe, Africa, and Asia and therefore their lack of immunities to diseases brought to the New World by Europeans

2. First Americans

Rejection of the cultural diffusion model
Waves of migrations 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Big game hunters cross the Bering Strait (between Alaska and Russia) during Ice age

3. Americas in 1492

Population: 80 million (4 million in present day United States)

Classification of societies

Sedentary Imperial Peoples: Aztecs, Incas
Sedentary Non-Imperial Peoples: Arawak (Tainos), Pueblos
Semi-sedentary peoples: Tupi, Algoquians, Iroquois