Instructor contact information
Instructor:
E-mail:
Allan Ebert II
Allan.Ebert@hccs.edu
Welcome to
Course Title:
Course Number:
U.S. History I
1301
Semester and Year:
Class Days & Times:
Fall 2011
Saturday
9:00 am-1:00 pm
Course overview
Catalog Description:
A survey of U.S. history from the Age of Discovery through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Special
emphasis is placed on the emergence of the United States as a nation. Other topics will include westward
expansion, slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Its purpose is to provide students with an
interpretive analysis of the social, economic, political, and intellectual dynamics that have shaped United
States history before 1877.
Getting ready
Prerequisites:
Required Material:
ENGL 0305 or ENGL 0316 AND ENGL 0307 or 0326, OR higher level course
(ENGL 1301), OR placement by testing.
American Passages: A History of the United States by Ayers & Oshinisky
The Fires of Jubilee by Stephen B. Oates
American Perspectives Vol 1: (Electronically Accessed)
Instructor guidelines and policies
Attendance:
Regular attendance is mandatory. Whether your absence is for a legitimate reason or not, the
simple fact is that you missed a class. If you miss class, you are responsible for materials
covered during your absence. The possible grade you may earn in this class will directly
correlate to the percentage of class time you attend. See the chart below. Withdrawal from the
course after the official day of record and prior to “W” Day, (see current catalog for this date)
will result in a final grade of “W” on your transcript. Instructor approval is necessary if you
want to withdraw after official day. No credit will be awarded for a course earning a “W”. If
you stop attending class, you must withdraw at the registration office prior to “W” day. If you
stop attending class and do not officially withdraw, you will receive an “F” for the course.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning and end of each class. You must be present for
both to receive credit.
Book Exams:
There will be one (1) exam over the book for this class that will be worth 100 points. This will
be in the form of a Multiple Choice Exam (50pts) and an essay (50pts) Please see the schedule
below for their date.
Exams:
There will be three (3) exams during the semester, each one having equal value. The exams will
be consist of open ended questions with a selection of short answer essays.
American
Perspective Essays: You will be required to read 4 readings from the American Perspective Reader. Then write a
100-125 word essay that summarizes that reading. Understand that should you not adhere to
word count, you will receive a zero for that essay (no exceptions). Should you not include the
word count under your name you will receive a zero for that essay (no exceptions)
Your eText Course ID* is Ebert II3779eb
http://www.pearsoncustom.com/tx/hcc_hist1301
Make-up Exams:
There will be NO MAKE UP Exams. Should you miss an exam you will
receive a zero for that assignment. NO exam will be given prior to its scheduled date.
Electronic Devices: Electronic devices are not prohibited in my class, HOWEVER I do reserve the right to forbid
you from using them should they become a distraction to me OR a fellow student. Please use
any and all electronic device responsibly and respectfully.
GRADE DETERMINATION:
Your grade will be
determined by the following
Exams
Points
(if applicable)
100 pts Each
Total
Points:
300
3 Major Exams
American Perspective Essays
4 Essays
25 pts Each
100
Book Exams
1 Book Exam over supplemental material
100 pts Each
100
Final Exam
Comprehensive Final Examination
100 pts Each
100
Total:
600
Week
1
9-24
2
10-1
3
10-8
4
10-15
5
10-22
6
10-29
7
11-1
8
11-8
9
11-15
10
11-22
11
11-29
12
12-5
13
12-10
14
12-17
Details
***ALL GRADES ARE FINAL, I DO NOT GIVE INCOMPLETES FOR ANY REASON***
Topic (Tentative)
Syllabus
Exam 1
Exam 2
American Perspectives Essays Due (ALL FOUR) & Exam 3
Thanksgiving-NO CLASS
Fires Test
No Class-Study Day for Final Exam
Final Exam
Fires of Jubilee Study Guide
1. Who states that “Nat Turner reminds us that oppression is a kind of violence which pays in coins of its
own minting”?
2. What made a Homestead complete?
3. What percentage of Southampton’s white families owned no slaves?
4. What actions of the Virginia slave owners convinced them that “all was sweetness and sunshine”?
5. At what age did a slave boy begin working in the fields and was treated differently?
6. What denomination were the Turners’?
7. How many gallons of apple brandy could the Turner cellar hold?
8. Who was the first bishop of the Methodist church?
9. Who had been the “foes of slavery since the colonial period”?
10. What did the Methodists have to settle for in their efforts of emancipation?
11. Where was the “terrible insurrection” that occurred in the Caribbean?
12. When was Nat Turner born?
13. How were Nat’s bumps & scares interpreted?
14. What was the first shock in Nat’s life?
15. What was the second shock?
16. How did Samuel Turner view Christianity?
17. Where were “overseers…mysteriously slain...[and] whites there decapitated four slaves and placed their
‘grinning skulls’ on chimneys as a warning”?
18. What was the first black republic in the New World?
19. What legacy did Santo Domingo and Gabriel Prosser leave for Southern Whites?
20. What two historical documents would a prudent slave owner not allow his slaves to know about or even
have in his personal library?
21. What made slavery “an economic necessity”?
22. What was Nat’s “worst blow yet to his crumbling little-boy’s world”?
23. How much whiskey would a “frugal man” be able to buy over the year?
24. Why would a master encourage two of his slaves to marry?
25. What “nourished young Nat’s self-esteem and his longing for independence”?
26. How much did the price of cotton fall during the 1819 depression?
27. How did Samuel Turner react to this depression?
28. For how long did Nat run away from the Turner house?
29. Why did he return?
30. Once Samuel Turner died, who was Nat sold to?
31. What did white preachers vindicate at the end of every sermon?
32. What reputation did Nat Turner receive due to his sermons?
33. Why did neighboring Slave Masters not object to their slaves going to Nat’s sermons?
34. By 1826 or 1827, how many people could Nat trust for his rebellion?
35. Who did Nat baptize?
36. Why was this so controversial?
37. What made Nat “smoldered with bitterness and resentment”?
38. When was Nat’s most “epochal vision of all”?
39. Who was the leader of the 1822 Charleston conspiracy?
40. How did he react to blacks as the “sputtered that they were slaves”?
41. What is a Jacobin?
42. What paper did Benjamin Lundy start?
43. What was the first negro newspaper ever in America?
44. Why was the South Carolina Exposition and Protest published?
45. What was the “most infamous of these documents”?
46. Why did many Virginian’s allow illegal schools and religious slave meetings to be held?
47. What happened in 1828?
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
Who did Sally marry later that year, October 1829?
Why was Nat allowed to keep the name Turner?
Why did Nat dread the upcoming mission?
What issue caused Governor Floyd to split with the Jasksonian Democrats?
What is President Jackson quoted saying to Vice-President Calhoun at Jefferson’s birthday dinner in
1830?
53. Why did they spare Giles Reese’s farm?
54. Why did Nat wear a light dress sword?
55. Whose approval did Governor Floyd have to mobilize the militia?
56. Who was the only “genuine newspaperman to provide on-the-spot coverage from Southampton?
57. Who did the new recruits mistake as militia?
58. As Dr. Simon Blunt spoke to his slaves, what did he say that would keep them loyal to him and not join
Nat Turner?
59. What was the white response to the rebellion in Southampton County?
60. How many blacks were lynched at Cross Keys?
61. Why did General Eppes issue a proclamation on August 28?
62. What did whites believe influenced Nat Turner?
63. Who had jurisdiction over capital offenses among slaves?
64. List the attorneys that were charged with defending the slaves?
65. What was the most effective defense against summary sentences?
66. How did Nat Turner smash the preconceived notions Virginians had about their slaves?
67. What did Charleston do in response to Nat Turner’s rebellion?
68. How many slaves were killed in response to the rumor of a full-scale rebellion that was to come from
southeastern North Carolina?
69. What did Governor Floyd find “unforgivable”?
70. What did Governor Floyd keep to prove that there was a conspiracy?
71. Who suggested in his writings that “unbridled religious revivalism had created a combustible
atmosphere which ignited the Turner Explosion”?
72. What did the newspapers name Nat Turner?
73. How much did the various rewards total up to?
74. How was Nat Turner discovered?
75. Who was Nat’s captor?
76. How much did Nat Turner say he stolen from the whites?
77. Who interviewed Nat Turner?
78. Who was the presiding judge for Nat Turner’s trial?
79. What was the arguement that Nat’s attorney presented?
80. What did Southern Whites link to Nat’s plot?
81. Who “was the chief scoundrel in this abysmal scenario”?
82. Who offered a $1,500 reward for the capture of this man?
83. How much was that reward for him in North Carolina?
84. Who wrote the “most comprehensive vindication of slavery”?
85. What is the name of the document that stated that?
86. To the blacks in Virginia, what did Nat Turner turn into?
87. Who claims to be a descendent of Nat Turner?
88. What is the town of Jerusalem called today?
89. Why did the woman not want to give Oates access to the archives?
90. What triggered the bank official to go into a monolog of the “colored” situation?
Essay Questions:
 Oates compares Nat Turner with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., do you believe the two men are
comparable? Defend your answer.
 Would you consider Nat Turner a prophet or a mad man? Defend your answer.