COURSE RATIONALE:  Students taking History1302 can expect to improve their reading and writing competencies, critical thinking skills, research skills, etc. all of which help students better succeed in life outside academia.  This course also helps satisfy the 6 hour American history requirement mandated by the Texas legislature.

COMMON COURSE OBJECTIVES:  For the Common Course Objectives for History 1301, please reference the history website at http://www.austincc.edu/history

ATTENDANCE POLICY:The policy of Austin Community College and the policy of this course requires you to attend class. It is the student’s responsibility to drop the class if desired. You may be dropped by the instructor for lack of attendance, failing to take exams, or failing complete and submit assignments as directed.

WITHDRAWAL POLICY:Consult the ACC semester calendar online for withdrawal dates. A student may withdraw from class at any time before the listed deadline.  Remember, it is the student's responsibility to withdraw, not the instructor. If the student does not drop by published deadline, a letter grade (A,B,C,D,F) must be given. THE LAST DAY TO DROP THIS COURSE IS AUG 1

TESTING POLICY: Tests will be given in the classroom on the assigned day. No exceptions. IF YOU MISS A SCHEDULED EXAM WITHOUT PRIOR ARRANGEMENTS, YOU DO NOT GET TO TAKE THE TEST. In other words, for all practical purposes, you will not pass the class. THERE ARE NO RETESTS.

GRADING POLICY:There will be three tests during the semester. Each will count 25% of the final grade (50 pts. each). There will be one review of a professional journal article required of every student, worth 25% (50 points), for a total of 200 points for the course.

Grading                      Pts                   Final Grade Scale                   Exam Breakdown

Exam 1                        50                    180 – 200 = A90%                 30 pts multiple-choice

Exam 2                        50                    160 – 179 = B  80%                 20 pts chapter,            

Exam 3                        50                    140 – 159 = C  70%                      document, and

Article Review             50                    120 – 139 = D60%                 __ map quizzes

Total pts                      200                                                                  50 + video bonus

INCOMPLETE POLICY:I exercise a policy of granting no incompletes. Exceptions may be madefor medical reasons verified by a satisfactory letter from a physician.  

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY:Acts prohibited by the College for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.   Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework.  Students caught cheating will receive an F for the class.

PRIVACY POLICY: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects confidentiality of your educational records.  Grades cannot be given over the phone, posted, over e-mail, or through a fellow student. Grades and class progress may be discussed only with the student.

STUDENT DISABILITIES:  Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office of Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY:  Students will engage in a variety of learning activities. Class time will be devoted to lectures and class discussions. Films, recordings, textbook readings, and other handouts will also be part of the class activity.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION:  The study, respect, and exercise of First Amendment freedoms are integral aspects of this course, so class debate and discussion is encouraged.  However, freedom demands responsibility; therefore, respect for the opinions and ideas of your classmates is expected.  The free exchange of information is vital to the pursuit of learning.

TEXTBOOK:  Robert Divine and others, America: Past and Present, Vol. 1, ACC Bookstores

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  This course is a 3 hour survey course that studies the history of the United States from Colonization to Reconstruction after the Civil War.

Learning Objectives

Chapter One

1. Explain how Ice Age hunters may have crossed the Bering Straits and began settling North America.
2. Discuss the sophistication of the cultures of the Mayans, Aztecs, Toltecs, and Algonquians and show the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the Native Americans.
3. Explain why the Norse discovery of America was ineffective.
4. List the changing social conditions and new scientific discoveries that resulted in European voyages of discovery.
5. Describe the economic, political, social, and religious factors of the Spanish colonial system, as well as the impact of this system on the Native peoples.
6. Compare the motives, elements, problems, and impact of the French colonial empire in North America with that of the Spanish.
7. Show the similarity between the British treatment of the Irish in the latter part of the sixteenth century and treatment of the slaves and Native Americans during the Colonial Era.
8. Discuss the early English attempts at planting colonies, including the work of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Chapter Two

1. Describe the different motivations for immigration from England to the New World in the sixteenth century.
2. Discuss the various problems involved in the settlement of Virginia.
3. Show the importance of tobacco plantations in the social, economic, and political life of the colony of Virginia.
4. Narrate the story of the founding and settlement of Maryland, focusing on its role for Catholics.
5. Describe the impact of diversity on the settlement of the Middle Colonies.
6. Describe the type of society William Penn tried to create in his "Holy Experiment."
7. Compare the motives for colonizing Georgia with those for colonizing the other colonies.
8. Discuss the problems of dissent in the Massachusetts Bay Colonies.
9. Discuss the similarities and differences between the settlement of the Carolinas and the settlement of the Chesapeake.

Chapter Three

1. Explain the reasons for the growth and social stability of the New England colonies.
2. Discuss the roles, obligations, and rights of colonial women in both New England and the Chesapeake.
3. Explain how conditions in the northern colonies eroded European concepts of social rank and fostered social mobility.
4. Account for the similarities and differences in development between the New England and Chesapeake colonies.
5. Discuss the reasons for the growth of slavery and the slave trade in the English colonies of North America.
6. Discuss the different conditions for slaves in the American colonies and the factors that contributed to the construction of a distinctive and lasting African-American culture.
7. Explain the historical significance of colonial uprisings in the seventeenth century.
8. Evaluate the causes of the Salem witchcraft hysteria in the 1690s.

Chapter Four

1. Assess the reasons behind the phenomenal population growth of the colonies.
2. Discuss reasons for colonial economic expansion and patterns of settlement.
3. Explain the differences and importance of Scots-Irish and German settlement.
4. Determine the nature of and problems relating to the Spanish North American empire.
5. Describe the influence of the Great Awakening on American religion, common interest, and “nationality.”
6. Explain the rise of the colonial assemblies and the governing problems they faced.
7. Discuss the different advantages and disadvantages of the British American colonists and the French in the wars for mastery of the North American continent.
8. Determine Pitt's (British) overall plan and strategy for victory in the Seven Years’ War.
9. Summarize the “fruits of victory” for the British and also the possible seeds of discontent and distrust in Britain's relationship with the colonies.
10. Ascertain the reasons behind the evolving American identity of the colonists even while they became more closely connected to England during the eighteenth century.
11. Discuss the evolution and disintegration of the Middle Ground. Why is this important to American history?

Chapter Five

1. Explain why both the American gentry and the common folk supported the American Revolution.
2. Describe the “expectant” nature of American society in the 1760s.
3. Assess the role women played in the events that led to the American Revolution.
4. Assess and explain the responsibility of George III and Parliament for the loss of their American colonies.
5. Describe each of the fundamental principles and the “politics of virtue” of the American perspective on imperial politics.
6. Analyze both the motivation for Grenville’s regulations and the popular mass movement that formed in resistance to them.
7. Trace the Townshend duties from their origins through the American resistance to their repeal.
8. Trace the growing conflict between the colonists and the North ministry from the Tea Act through the fighting at Lexington and Concord.
9. Analyze the American decision to declare independence from the convening of the Second Continental Congress to the Declaration of Independence.
10. Compare and contrast the military assets and liabilities of both the British and American forces in the Revolutionary War.
11. Describe the role of African Americans in the fighting of the American Revolution.
12. Describe both the British and American victories in New York and New Jersey through the winter of 1776-1777.
13. Explain the significance of the American victory at Saratoga in 1777.
14. Trace the American diplomacy that led to the treaties with the French in February 1778.
15. Analyze the British “southern strategy” from their victory at Charlestown to Cornwallis’s defeat at Yorktown.
16. Explain how American Loyalists were the greatest losers in the American Revolution.
17. Analyze the role of diplomacy in the success of the American Revolution.
18. Describe and explain the role of colonial religious values in promoting the revolutionary ferment and patriotism of the common folk in the American Revolution.

Chapter Six

1. Explain the principles that led Sam Adams and other Republicans to vehemently oppose the “Sans Souci Club.”
2. Describe the conflict among American Republicans of the 1780s over the relative importance of liberty as opposed to order.
3. Delineate the types and extent of the social and political changes brought by the American Revolution.
4. Describe the post-revolutionary positions on slavery in both the North and the South.
5. Specify the post-revolutionary changes in the expectations, rights, and roles of American women.
6. Describe the major sources and principles of the earliest American constitutions.
7. Identify the major problems of western settlement and evaluate the Confederation Congress's responses to those problems.
8. Identify the major domestic and foreign-policy problems of the Confederation Congress and the nationalists' critique of the congressional responses.
9. Explain how republican ideology contributed to the ills confronting the country in the 1780s, and how Madison proposed to deal with those problems.
10. Trace the development of the movement for a new constitution from the Annapolis convention through Shays’ Rebellion to the Philadelphia convention of 1787.
11. Identify the major differences between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, then describe the compromise on the issues by the delegates at the convention.
12. Describe the conflict over slavery and its resolution by the delegates to the Philadelphia convention.
13. Identify the major issues separating the Federalists and Antifederalists. Describe and evaluate the positions taken by each.
14. Trace the ratification process from the organization of the opposing sides to June 1788.
15. Describe and explain the major contribution of the Antifederalists to the Constitution.
16. Explain why and how the new government protected the people from themselves.

Chapter Seven

1. Discuss the impact of public opinion on national leaders in setting the agenda from 1788 to 1800.
2. Evaluate George Washington's strengths and weaknesses as president.
3. Compare and contrast the political and economic philosophies advocated by Alexander Hamilton with those of Thomas Jefferson.
4. Explain how foreign affairs acted as a catalyst in the development of American political parties.
5. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of John Adams as president.
6. Describe the XYZ Affair and its impact on domestic politics, specifically explaining the intent and results of the Alien and Sedition Acts, as well as the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
7. Discuss the terms and results of the Convention of Mortefontaine.
8. Summarize the accomplishments of the Federalists while they were in power.
9. Explain the factors that contributed to the downfall and demise of the Federalist party.
10. Explain the description of the election of 1800 as a "peaceful revolution."

Chapter Eight

1. Describe the condition and advances of the American economy in this era.
2. List the goals of Jefferson as president and evaluate his success in accomplishing them.
3. Explain the circumstances and consequences of the Louisiana Purchase.
4. Describe the background, results, and significance of the Marbury v. Madison decision (1803).
5. List and explain the sources of political dissension with which Jefferson had to contend.
6. Evaluate the success of American efforts to end the slave trade.
7. Explain the reasons for the failure of American foreign policy in preventing the War of 1812.
8. Analyze the causes, conduct, and outcome of the War of 1812.
9. Account for James Madison's ineffectiveness as president.
10. Discuss the reasons for the ultimate demise of the Federalist party during this era.

Chapter Nine

1. Analyze the factors that contributed to the rise of nationalism after the War of 1812.
2. Describe the process by which western lands were organized and sold.
3. Understand why families moved westward and the living conditions they faced.
4. Explain the development of a national transportation network and its contribution to a market economy.
5. List and explain the reasons why the South became the world's greatest cotton producer.
6. Describe how new economic activities brought forth the early factory system.
7. Discuss the steps taken by Congress to encourage industry and enterprise.
8. Develop the main issues of sectional disturbance that accompanied the Missouri Compromise.
9. Analyze the role played in economic and political matters by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Marshall.
10. Explain the perceived international conditions that led to the Monroe Doctrine as well as the specific intent of this statement.

Chapter Ten

1. Explain factors that contributed to the rise of democracy in the 1820s and 1830s.
2. Describe how the diffusion of political power among the masses encouraged reform initiative and inspired new literary, artistic, and professional trends.
3. Evaluate the main political and economic issues brought forth in the 1824 and 1828 elections and explain the outcomes of those presidential elections.
4. Determine the political characteristics and personality traits that contributed to Jackson's image as a "man of the people."
5. Summarize the problems encountered under Jackson's Indianremoval policy.
6. Contrast the arguments put forth by the states' rightists and the unionists regarding the nullification crisis.
7. Explain why South Carolina seized the tariff issue to mount its support for states' rights.
8. Summarize Jacksonian arguments in their attack against the Bank of the United States.
9. Evaluate the Depression of 1837's causes and Van Buren's attempts to correct the financial disorder.
10. Compare and contrast the ideologies and objectives of the Whigs and Democrats and identify the socioeconomic groups from which they drew their support.
11. Reveal how the conflict over the Bank's recharter dominanted political banter.
12. Evaluate Jackson's strategy in "killing the Bank" and his use of state banks as depositories
13. Understand the reasons for political realignment in the 1830s and the emergence of the Whigs.
14. Paraphrase both the blessings and perils of American democracy according to Toqueville.

Chapter Eleven

1. Offer an overview of the complicated and diverse institution of slavery.
2. Analyze the effects of shortstaple cotton and the cotton gin on the South.
3. Explain the arguments and issues surrounding the profitability and efficiency of slavery.
4. Discuss the relevant statistics about slave ownership in the South.
5. Describe the daily lives of a typical planter, a small slave holder, a yeoman farmer, and a mountaineer.
6. List the arguments for and against slavery offered by southerners.
7. Explain the various methods used by slaves to resist the oppression of their masters.
8. Discuss the role of the slave family.
9. Explain the importance and development of slave religion.
10. Describe the life of free Blacks in the Old South.

Chapter Twelve

1. List the factors that caused the Second Great Awakening and discuss the differences between the revivalism that swept the South and the North.
2. Show how the religious revivals became reform movements and why.
3. Describe the "Cult of True Womanhood" and the doctrine of separate spheres.
4. Analyze the impact the reform of family life had on lower, middle, and upperclass women.
5. Explain the purpose of public education according to Horace Mann.
6. Explain the "discovery of the asylum."
7. Why did Black leaders establish a separate Black antislavery movement?
8. Describe the factors and events that led to the rise of the women's rights movement.
9. Evaluate the results of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.
10. Discuss the other more radical reform ventures in the mid-nineteenth century. What impact did they have on society?
11. Assess Hawthorne's interpretation of reform. Is it valid? Explain.

Chapter Thirteen

1. Describe the conditions of the western "borderlands" of the 1830s as well as the factors attracting American settlers.
2. Explain the causes, events, and results of the Texas revolution.
3. Discuss the importance of the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails in expanding American trade and settlement.
4. Trace the development of the Mormon Church and the westward trek of its members.
5. Identify the candidates and issues and explain the outcome and consequences of the election of 1844.
6. Evaluate the successes and failures of James K. Polk's administration.
7. Discuss the rationale for expansion as expressed in the doctrine of manifest destiny.
8. Summarize the causes, events, and outcomes of the Mexican War, including the experiences of "Hispanic America."
9. Discuss the factors that contributed to American economic growth from 1830 to 1860.
10. Describe the changing composition and attitudes of the American working class during this era.

Chapter Fourteen

1.  Define and analyze the following suggestions made to solve the problem of extending slavery to new territories after the Mexican War: (a) Wilmot Proviso, (b) extension of the Missouri Compromise line, (c) squatter or popular sovereignty, and (d) President Taylor's solution.

2.  Identify the candidates and explain the platforms and outcomes of the presidential elections from 1848 to 1860.

3.  Describe the series of resolutions that resulted in the Compromise of 1850.

4.  Explain the motivations for and the consequences of the KansasNebraska Act of 1854.

5.  Contrast the intent and results of the Ostend Manifesto.

6.  Analyze the reasons for shifting political alignments in this era, specifically: (a) the rise and fall of the FreeSoil party, (b) the disintegration of the Whig party, (c) the appearance and brief success of the KnowNothing party, and (d) the emergence and victory of the Republican party.

7.  Trace the development of attempts to win Kansas by the proslavery and antislavery forces, noting specifically: (a) the "sack of Lawrence," (b) the role of John Brown, and (c) the Lecompton Constitution.

8.  Discuss the effects of social and cultural sectionalism in preparing the path for southern secession.

9.  Discuss the background, final decision, criticisms, and implications of the Dred Scott case of 1857.

10.  Contrast the positions taken by Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas in the debates held for the Illinois Senate race of 1858.

11.  Explain the intensification of southern fears regarding a possible Republican victory in the election of 1860, especially in light of John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and the 1860 contest for Speaker of the House.

12.  Contrast the various historical interpretations that have been advanced to explain the reasons for southern secession.

            Chapter Fifteen

1. Explain why Lincoln was so effective as the Union's wartime leader and compare him to Jefferson Davis.
2. Trace the development of southern secession from Lincoln's election through the decision of the upper South to join the Confederacy including the establishment of the Confederacy.
3. Evaluate the Republican decision to reject the Crittenden compromise plan.
4. Describe the development of the North's resolve to fight, if necessary, to defeat secession.
5. Analyze the opposing strategies of the Civil War and the advantages of each side at the outset of the conflict.
6. Define the concept of "total war," then explain its effect on the efforts of the North and the South to mobilize their home fronts for the war effort.
7. Describe the experience of soldiering in the Civil War.
8. Describe the relative success of the Union and Confederate armies in the early campaigns in the eastern theater of war.
9. Describe the relative success of the Union and Confederate armies in the western theater of war.
10. Explain why "King Cotton Diplomacy" failed.
11. Trace and explain Lincoln's gradual movement toward the emancipation of the slaves.
12. Describe the role played by AfricanAmerican troops in the Union armed force during the Civil War.
13. List and describe the principal social and economic changes that accompanied the Civil War.
14. Describe the experience of Northern and Southern women during the war.
15. Describe the lasting effects of the Civil War on the nation.

            Chapter Sixteen

1. Contrast the presidential and congressional wartime reconstruction programs.
2. Explain how Andrew Johnson's background shaped his attitudes and policies on Reconstruction.
3. Describe the processes by which Andrew Johnson lost support in Congress and the Radical Republicans gained control of Reconstruction.
4. Summarize the goals of Radical Reconstruction and evaluate the success with which these goals were achieved.
5. Define the sections of the Fourteenth Amendment and understand why its enforcement was crucial to Reconstruction efforts.
6. Describe the Radicals' attempt to remove President Johnson from office. Analyze the important results of the impeachment crisis on the federal government and the Reconstruction process.
7. Define the southern systems of contract labor and sharecropping with emphasis on their effects upon African Americans.
8. Analyze the failings of the Fifteenth Amendment. Consider how it might have been improved?
9. Identify the social and economic adjustments in the South during the Reconstruction years.
10. Identify the major groups that made up the southern Republican governments, then evaluate their achievements and list the reasons for their ultimate failure.
11. Summarize the worst of the scandals that rocked the Grant administration.
12. Evaluate Grant's handling of the major problems of his administration: the money question, enforcement of Reconstruction, and governmental corruption.
13. Explain the nature of the political crisis involving the election of 1876 and discussion the terms and result of the "Compromise of 1877."
14. Discuss the Black Codes. How were they like slavery? How were they unlike slavery?
15. Describe the social and political effects of the "Redeemer" regimes in the New South.
16. Discuss the meaning of freedom for African Americans. How did they experience Reconstruction in the public and private spheres?
17. Discuss the role of violence and groups like the Ku Klux Klan in Reconstruction.
18. Discuss the enactment of Jim Crow laws and their impact on the South.
19. Evaluate Reconstruction in terms of its successes and failures for the nation as a whole and for Black Americans in particular.
20. Evaluate historians' changing views of Reconstruction.