U.S. History 1301: M06: United States History: Colonial to 1877
Chris Whitaker
Introduction
Traditional education philosophy centered on rote learning of discreet tasks is
increasingly becoming irrelevant in our 21st Century world. Integration of content and
process through a curriculum that emphasizes thinking, critical thinking, is replacing the
traditional philosophy.
A “thinking” curriculum tied to application of content to real world experiences should
embody the following characteristics: (1) deep learning rooted in “process” (how to
distinguish important from less important sources of information), and (2) application of
content and process to real world objectives (how do you use math to balance the check
book?).
Another characteristic of the “thinking” curriculum is holistic approaches. Here learning
is tied to what students already know and is particularly applicable for the low-skill
student where learning promotes confidence. Finally, content and process (the “thinking”
curriculum) should engage students through connecting curriculum with their life
experiences and knowledge. 1
Philosophy in Teaching History
History, I tell my students, is most relevant when used to inform the present. In this
sense, history serves as an analytical tool for understanding the real world. It is “useable”
in so far as students can process real world situations and problems through a historical
lens.
History, I also tell my students, is a political exercise. Yes, facts, people, ideas, and
events are important. More important in terms of “using” history (to analyze and
understand the present) is recognizing how different people “see” history, how an
individual’s perspective determines the facts, events, and people, and shapes their
interpretation.
This last point is critical in developing students’ sensitivity to peoples of different
ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. The interconnected, information-age, world we live
in today needs students who can master “content” and “process” and use them to develop
critical thinking skills.
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T.F. Fennimore and M.B. Tinzmann, “What Is a Thinking Curriculum?” North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory (Oak Brook, 1990): 1-4.
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LEE COLLEGE
OFFICE: SS 228
EMAIL: cwhitake@lee.edu
OFFICE HOURS: M-TH:
HIST. 1301: M06.
7:15-8:15 am
T: 3:30-4:30 pm
Or by appointment.
Christopher Whitaker, M.A.
TELEPHONE:
832-556-4055
DIVISION CHAIR: Dr. Steve Showalter, SS 207
PHONE……………281-425-6372
DIVISION SECRETARY: Marian Stein, SS 209
PHONE……………281-425-6371
CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER: Mr. Bruce Scism, TV1
PHONE……….281-425-6440
COURSE PURPOSE: To enable students to think historically about patterns,
themes, and processes in America from 1500 to 1877.
KEY QUESTION(S): What are the major themes, patterns and processes
constituting American history from 1500 to 1877?
INFORMATION: Students will understand, and, at times use, primary and
secondary sources.
SKILLS OF INTERPRETATION: Students will master an ability to acquire and
interpret historical information from a variety of sources.
ASSUMPTIONS: It is possible for entry level community college students to use
themes, patterns and processes in America, 1500 to 1877, in understanding complex
issues in today’s world.
IMPLICATONS: Students who develop an understanding of the major events in
American history should be able to make connections to events in 21st-century
America.
POINT OF VIEW: Students will learn “reasoning historically” is a matter of
perspective. That said students will learn to reason both as a “conservative” and a
“liberal”.
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READING MATERIALS: Textbook: Tindall and Shi, America, 7th ed.
Additional Books: Annual Editions. Vol. 1
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass
CLASSROOM RULES:
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CELL PHONES ARE PROHIBITED DURING IN-CLASS EXAMINATIONS!
During regular class sessions (non-testing days) cell phones should be on “silent” or
“meeting” mode. Students who refrain from letting their cell phone ring in class will
be awarded three additional points; conversely, students who let their cell phones ring
and disrupt class will not be awarded the three points: subsequent disruptions will
result in students’ losing three points.
MAKE-UPS WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED IN CASES OF DOCUMENTED
EMERGENCIES, emergencies conveyed to the instructor BEFORE THE CLASS! A
paper or book review with an oral presentation can be assigned—at the instructor’s
discretion--for any student who misses more than one exam.
VIOLATION OF LEE COLLEGE ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY will result in a
failing grade for the assignment in question: this is for the first offense. Subsequent
offenses result in a failing grade for the course, and possible College suspension.
Please understand and become familiar with the Lee College Academic Honesty
Code (see www.lee.edu/acad_honesty.asp ).
REGULAR ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY: All students are expected to attend
classes regularly. More than three hours of missed class time (missed due to
undocumented emergencies) can result in a student being dropped from the course—
this is a Lee College policy. Tardy attendance will be counted as an absence.
SPECIAL CONCERNS: Please note the following classroom behaviors will result in
students being marked absent: (1) Using computer/electronic devices such as, but not
limited to, IPODs, MP3 players, Blackberries (and other hand-held computers) during
lecture and discussion, (2) sleeping in class, and (3) excessive chatting.
GRADE DETERMINATION:
9 Three unit exams will make up 55 % (or five hundred and fifty points) of the
grade in this class. Students will be provided a review document for all unit tests
at least one week prior to unit tests. Several types of questions will be used to test
students’ memorization of factual information, as well as ability to analyze and
critically evaluate learned historical knowledge. To that end, students will have a
combination of multiple choice, matching, lists (critical thinking and
memorization), and chronology exercises. The last unit test will not be
cumulative.
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9 Lee College requires all history students to complete an acceptable library
assignment. For this class the assignment will be a book review worth 15% (150
points) of the total points. This library assignment will be due no later than
Tuesday, April 24. Instructor approval of an appropriate book is required.
Important note on the library assignment: since the library assignment is a
departmental requirement, any student who fails to complete it, or who violates the
Academic Honesty Code (through plagiarism, misrepresentation, etc.) will receive no
higher than a “D”.
9 Students will be required to take pre-and post-Nelson-Denny Reading and
California Critical Thinking Skills tests. Keep in mind, our class has been
selected for evaluation of Lee College’s “critical thinking” and “reading”
Quality Enhancement Plan—the QEP. Our goal is to complete the pretesting no later than the second week of class, the post-testing sometime in
late April. Thank you in advance for your participation to improve critical
thinking and reading skills across the curriculum.
9 Seven quizzes will make up 25% (250 points) of the total points.
• All quizzes (except the map quiz) will be a combination of identification
questions (from online textbook chapter flashcards) and short answer/short
paragraph questions from supplemental books. Reading for the first five
quizzes will come from Annual Editions. For quizzes seven and eight
Fredrick Douglass. The map quiz will be given in conjunction with the
final exam.
• Points and grading policy for the different quizzes. The highest four
Annual Editions quizzes, along with Fredrick Douglass and the map quiz
will be included in the point total (250). (The lowest quiz score from
Annual Edition will be dropped.) The first five quizzes will be worth
twenty-five points: ten from online textbook flashcards, fifteen from
Annual Editions. The last three quizzes (Fredrick Douglass map quiz) will
be worth fifty points each, or 150 total points. (Quizzes six and seven
will be ten points from flashcards, forty from Fredrick Douglass.)
9 Critical Thinking Assignment: 50 points
9 Final grades will be based on a percentage of 1000 points:
ƒ A: 900 to 1000 points
ƒ B: 800 to 899
ƒ C: 600 to 799
ƒ D: 500 to 599
ƒ F: below 500
DROP DATE
The last date to drop this class (and all sixteen week classes) is 13 April.
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Practice 1: Source Analysis and Methodology.
This is one element—one part—of a Book Review Assignment (instructions are handed
out during the first week in class). This element asks students to analyze sources, then,
based on the analysis, make sound assumptions and logical inferences concerning the
author’s “methodology(ies)”. The boldfaced type indicates key questions embedded in
this critical thinking assignment.
Primary and secondary sources: what are they? In this section students need to
identify key sources used by their author. Most professional historians try to rely
on “first-hand” or primary sources to “get as close to the event, person, or
concept” as possible. For that reason students should try and find “key” primary
sources. (Hint: sometimes the historian will have a “Note on Sources” where
comments on key sources will make your task all-the-more straightforward)
Historians use secondary sources (sources “after the fact”) to show how other
historians have “interpreted” the primary sources. Historians also use secondary
information to inform their research methodologies (see below, methodologies).
A bibliography (if your book has one) will list all sources in alphabetical order;
most bibliographies in historical monographs also separate the “primary” or “firsthand” from the “secondary” or “second hand” sources. Many secondary
monographs, however, have only “endnotes” or “footnotes” (books with
bibliographies usually have both a bibliography and endnotes/footnotes). This
type of documentation makes the task of distinguishing primary from secondary
tricky. As a general rule, however, check “publication dates” from the sources in
the footnotes/endnotes. This will help distinguish the primary information from
secondary.
“First-hand” or primary sources: Examples of primary sources are: oral
interviews, pictures, tax records, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, court
proceedings, Congressional sessions, church rolls, hospital records, etc. Our
library class will help further understanding of what constitutes primary sources.
After understanding and determining sources answer these questions: Does
the author base their thesis more on primary or secondary sources? And
more importantly, what do you think the key primary and/or secondary
sources are? (Remember most professional historians try to base their
research from primary sources, so, in most cases, the key sources are
primary)
Historical Methodology: A Definition Historians are not wedded to one
particular research field; historians borrow research strategies from other
disciplines (sociology, anthropology, archaeology, economics, psychology,
political science, humanities, philosophy, biological sciences, linguistics, etc.)
Based on secondary sources and key concepts acquired in your reading what
assumptions can you make concerning methodologies of your historian?
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Like source analysis sound assumptions about methodologies can be difficult to
detect. Some historians, however, are explicit in informing the reader what
disciplines—fields of study—they employ (often this information is found in the
Preface or Introduction); for others “sound” assumptions will be more difficult to
make—they require more close reading and understanding of the sources and key
concepts.
Practice 2: Assumptions and Inferences about the “Personal” and
“Political” Biases of your Author. This assignment requires students to make
sound assumptions and logical inferences about their author’s personal values and
beliefs; make a sound assumption concerning the author’s preference for what constitutes
social change; and make a sound assumption concerning your author’s perspective and/or
point-of-view. This is another component of the Book Review Assignment (see above).
Again, like Practice 1, the boldfaced type indicates key questions embedded in this
critical thinking assignment.
Personal Values and Beliefs: Students should determine the approximate time
period—the generation—when your author was a young adult (approximately
eighteen to thirty). The young adult years are likely formative years shaping your
authors personal values and beliefs. Using your textbook, Oxford Online
Premium, or other research sources, find-out what important events/people/ideas
punctuated your author’s generation. Combine the “formative year” research
with biographical research on your author. Come up with at least two sound
assumptions and one logical inference referencing your author’s personal
values, and personal beliefs.
Assumptions about social change: Part of the nature of history and historians is
to describe, explain and undercover social change. How society changes is
directly dependent on assumptions historians make concerning change. Some of
the more influential beliefs are: economic forces (the free market), social classes
(conflict between the rich and poor), great leaders (Martin Luther King), and
ideas (feminism, communism, capitalism). Your key question here: what
category of social change does your historian fall in? Is he/she an economic
historian? political historian? historian of ideas? class-conflict or Marxist
(or neo-Marxist) historian? Make one sound assumption in a declarative
statement.
Point of view and perspective: A point-of-view is a way of considering
something. “From a medical point view……” Similarly “perspective” in a
historical context is a way of “seeing” or “viewing” the past. Often historians’
perspective and point-of-view are interchangeable, that is the author’s point-ofview and perspective are essentially the same.
Historians often state their perspective/point-of-view in the introduction (or
preface). In other words, they explicitly state how they “view” their subject
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(from a comparative, global, regional perspective, etc.), they state what voice
they are attempting to use in approaching his/her subject?
In a book about slavery, for example, is the historian devoting his/her book to
how slaves “perceived” slavery? How the elite plantation owner “perceived”
slavery? How the 1830’s white working class in the North “perceived” slavery?
Make one sound assumption characterizing your historian’s
perspective/point-of-view. Your assumption here should be supported by
the sound assumptions and a logical inference you determined about your
author’s personal values and beliefs.
Practice 3: Conflicting Visions for America? Hamilton and Jefferson
The following assignments have students think critically about two prominent Founding
Fathers: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The structure for these questions
come from active learning—Socratic questioning in particular—over problems facing the
young nation, problems in the period after the end of the Revolutionary War, before
ratification of the Constitution (1788). The other pole surrounding context for these
questions (see below) is structured on a brief outline of the respective “visions” of each
of the Founding Fathers. The questions are given in a review document and students are
asked to write short essays.
Structure One: Students identified (through reading, clarification from class
discussion, and from questioning the questioner) major problems—international
and domestic, general and specific--facing the young nation.
Structure Two: Key components from the Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian visions:
A. Hamiltonian Vision:
1. Loose construction of the Constitution (meaning? The Constitution
should be interpreted loosely, esp. the “Necessary and Proper Clause” in Article 1
Sect. 8)
2. A natural aristocracy based on merit should govern and participate in
political life.
3. The United States Government should look to England for commercial and
political guidance.
4. America should be a commercial, urban nation, where trade and
manufacturing would provide the economic base.
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B. Jeffersonian Vision:
1. Strict construction of the Constitution (…Constitution interpreted narrowly)
2. The masses should be allowed to govern and participate in political life.
3. The U.S. Government should look to France for ideological and political
guidance.
4. America should be a nation of small, self-sufficient farmers. (Jefferson’s
“agrarian paradise”)
Students should argue three points in each vision, and use critical thinking skills
(see below) to advocate why each vision would provide the best blueprint, the best
guidance for the new nation.
The Questions and Preparation (given to student one week before the test, along
with other types of “memorization” questions):
1. Argue why the “Jefferson vision” provided the best blueprint, the best guidance
for the new nation (the best guidance in terms of creating stability and security for a
fragile nation)
2. Argue why the “Hamilton vision” provided the best blueprint, the best guidance
for the new nation (the best guidance……)
For both of these critical thinking lists students should be familiar with the “visions” of
the two Founding Fathers, understand key information and concepts (during the early
years of the Republic), and be able to make sound assumptions and logical inferences.
Make sure you read Chapter 8 very closely (here the Jefferson and Hamilton “visions”
are discussed in some detail); Chapters 9 and 10 would also be helpful: the more
“relevant” information you can put into your essays, the better you can argue and
substantiate your points.
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