Professor Howard Bodner
Office Phone: 718-6232
Office Hours: 2:30-3:45pm, M-Th, (and by appointment) in SJAC 206A
E-Mail: howard.bodner@hccs.edu
*”History is an argument without end.” – Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Required Readings:
Ayers et al, American Passages: A History Of The United States, vol. I, Compact, 4th
Edition.
American Perspectives: Readings in American History, vol. I, 4th Edition.
Oates, Stephen B. The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion.
McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution.
Course Description:
Historians of early America have tended to view the colonial period of American history in one of two general ways. Some have looked upon it as a chapter in the expansion of the West. For them, the history of early America is to be found in the story of how
England created an empire in the New World, maintained it for more than 150 years, and then lost it after 1776 when the Americans took over its direction themselves. It is the saga of the Europeanization of America.
Other historians, less concerned with the European origins of America and the persistence of European or English patterns in American society, have looked for the changes the New World wrought in the life and characters of transplanted Europeans. For these historians, the really important thing that happened in America before the
Revolution is that a new and different society, one akin to Europe but not European, emerged and established itself. Early American history becomes the story of the
Americanization of the European.
No historian, of course, has followed either approach to the exclusion of the other. The major thematic focus of this course will be an inquiry into how the modern American nation evolved from its colonial origins.
Of course, it may be said with greater or lesser truth of almost any facet of American life or character that it had its beginnings in the colonial period. Histories not only of
American religion and education but also of American law, agriculture, literature,
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journalism, technology, art, or what have you, always acknowledge the colonial origins of their subject and sometimes even deal with them.
In fact, much of the history of the colonial period has been written by historians in search of answers to questions raised about the American Revolution, political parties,
Jacksonian Democracy, sectional conflict, or about any number of other aspects of the history of the United States. To put it another way, almost any work on early American history will point forward, often explicitly, to something in the national experience of the
American people.
We are always recreating our past, rediscovering the personalities and events that have shaped us, inspired us, or bedeviled us. When we are buffeted by the erratic winds of current affairs, we look for reassuring precedents. But we do not always find that history is comforting. The past holds much that is disturbing, for the story of a nation (like any story) is never one of unbroken progress. As with our own personal experiences, it is both triumphant and tragic, filled with injury as well as healing.
This course will attempt a recreation of the American past; a rediscovery of its people and of the nation they founded and sustained.
Grading Scale:
A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), F (below 60).
All tests and assignments are marked with a numerical grade.
Scholastic Dishonesty:
Students are responsible for conducting themselves with honor and integrity in fulfilling course requirements. Penalties and/or disciplinary proceedings may be initiated by
College System officials against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty.
“Scholastic dishonesty” includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion.
“Cheating” on a test includes:
 Copying from another student’s test paper;
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Using materials during a test that are not authorized by the person giving the test;
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Collaborating with another student during a test without authority;

Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the contents of an unadministered test;

Bribing another person to obtain a test that is to be administered.
“Plagiarism” means the appropriation of another’s work and the unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one’s own written work offered for credit.
“Collusion” means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work offered for credit.
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The objective of social and behavioral science in the core curriculum is to increase students’ knowledge of how social and behavioral scientists discover, describe, and explain the behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to understand themselves and the roles they play in addressing the issues facing humanity.
Exemplary Educational Objectives
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To employ the appropriate methods, technologies, and data that social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
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To examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods, social structures, and cultures.
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To use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
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To develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.
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To analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces on the subject of study.
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To comprehend the origins and evolution of U.S. and Texas political systems, with a focus on the growth of political institutions, the constitutions of the U.S. and Texas, federalism, civil liberties, and civil and human rights.
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To understand the evolution and current role of the U.S. in the world.
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To differentiate and analyze historical evidence (documentary and statistical) and differing points of view.
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To recognize and apply reasonable criteria for the acceptability of historical evidence and social research.
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To analyze, critically assess, and develop creative solutions to public policy problems.
 To recognize and assume one’s responsibility as a citizen in a democratic society by learning to think for oneself, by engaging in public discourse, and by obtaining information through the news media and other appropriate information sources about politics and public policy.

To identify and understand differences and commonalities with diverse cultures.
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Unit Exams = 75%
You will take three Unit Exams. The first exam will cover class material and readings assigned/due between Aug. 30 and Oct. 4. The second exam will cover class material and readings assigned/due between Oct. 6 and Nov. 8. The third exam (which is also the Final
Exam) will cover class material and readings assigned/due between Nov. 10 and Dec. 8.
Each exam will consist of a combination of short answer and essay questions. Each exam will cover material taken from class lecture/discussion and readings (including those assigned but not specifically discussed in class).
Exam #1 will be taken during class on Oct. 4.
Exam #2 will be taken during class on Nov. 8.
Exam #3 will be taken during the Final Exam period on Dec. 15 at 10am.
*There will be no makeup exams except under extraordinary circumstances and solely at the discretion of the Instructor.
** Note – Any act of “scholastic dishonesty” will result in a grade of zero on the particular exam/assignment.
Book Exam = 10%
You will take an exam based on your reading of The Fires of Jubilee.
This exam will be taken in class on Nov. 24.
Article Summaries = 15%
Several articles in American Perspectives have been assigned to be read in each of the three Units of this course.
You are of course expected to read all of the assigned articles, but for the purposes of this particular assignment you are instructed to select one article from each unit to summarize. Your summary should be both comprehensive and substantive. Each summary should be a minimum of 500 words typewritten .
The summaries are due on the following dates:
Unit I is due on Sept. 27,
Unit II is due on Nov. 1,
Unit III is due on Dec. 6.
*Late papers will not be accepted.
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HCC Course Withdrawal Policy
The State of Texas has begun to impose penalties on students who drop courses excessively. For example, if you repeat the same course more than twice, you have to pay extra tuition. Beginning in Fall 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a law limiting first time entering freshmen to no more than SIX total course withdrawals throughout their educational career in obtaining a certificate and/or degree.
To help students avoid having to drop/withdraw from any class, HCC has instituted an
Early Alert process by which your professor may “alert” you and counselors that you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic performance. It is your responsibility to visit with a counselor to learn about what, if any, HCC interventions might be available to assist you – online tutoring, child care, financial aid, job placement, etc. – to stay in class and improve your academic performance.
If you plan on withdrawing from your class, this MUST be done PRIOR to the withdrawal deadline to receive a “W” on your transcript. Faculty will no longer have the ability to withdraw students after the withdrawal deadline.
**Final withdrawal deadlines vary each semester and/or depending on class length, please visit the online registration calendars, HCC schedule of classes and catalog, any HCC Registration
Office, or any HCC counselor to determine class withdrawal deadlines. If you do not withdraw before the deadline, you will receive the grade that you earn in the class as your final grade. Zeroes averaged in for required assignments/tests not submitted will lower your semester average significantly, most likely resulting in a failing grade (“F”).
Class Attendance:
Students are expected to attend class regularly and on time. Students are responsible for material covered during their absences. Class attendance will be checked daily by the
Instructor.
Note: Withdrawal Policy
All students who wish to withdraw from this course must fill out a course withdrawal form available at the Registrar’s Office. The last day to withdraw from a course for the
Fall, 2010 semester is November 18 by 4:30pm .
Students who do not officially withdraw from the course will receive a final grade for the course. However, the Instructor reserves the right to drop students from this course for excessive absences. Any absence in excess of 6 hours (or 4 classes) may result in a student being administratively withdrawn.
Ceasing to attend the class does not constitute a withdrawal.
Students will not be considered withdrawn from the course until they submit the official withdrawal form or have been administratively withdrawn.
Faculty will no longer have the ability to withdraw students after the withdrawal deadline.
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Reasonable Accommodations:
“Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the
Disability Services Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester.
Faculty are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability
Support Services Office.”
Course Schedule:
Unit One: Founding the New Nation
August 30 – October 4
Readings:
American Passages -- Chapters 1-5
American Perspectives —
“The Jamestown Fiasco” by Edmund S. Morgan,
“Native Reactions to the American Invasion” by James Axtell,
“The Forgotten Experience” by Gary Nash,
“A Most Undisciplined, Profligate Crew” by James Kirby Martin,
“The Witch and We the People” by Edmund S. Morgan.
Aug. 30 – Introduction/Orientation
Sept. 1 – the Age of Exploration
Sept. 6 – Labor Day
Sept. 8 – Tudor England
Sept. 13 – the Jamestown Fiasco
Sept. 15 – Puritan New England
Sept. 20 – England’s administration of her American colonies
Sept. 22 – the Great War for Empire
Sept. 27 – the road to revolution
Article Summary #1 is due
Sept. 29 – the war for independence
Oct. 4 – Unit One Exam
Unit Two: Building the New Nation
October 6 – November 8
Readings:
The Fires of Jubilee
American Passages -- Chapters 6-10
American Perspectives
–
“Crisis in Freedom: The Alien and Sedition Acts” by John C. Miller,
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“The Republican President” by Bernard A. Weisberger,
“Andrew Jackson versus the Cherokee Nation” by Robert V. Remini,
“The Jacksonian Character: A Contemporary Portrait of American Personality, Traits, and Values” by Edward Pessen,
“Causes of the War with the United States” by Josefina Zoraida Vasquez.
Oct. 6 – the birth of the republic
Oct. 11 – the Constitutional Convention
Oct. 13 – the ratification debate
Oct. 18 – the Federalist republic, 1789-1799
Oct. 20 – Hamiltonianism vs. Jeffersonianism
Oct. 25 – the revolution of 1800 and Republican ascendancy
Oct. 37 – the Napoleonic Wars’ impact on the United States
Nov. 1 – the Missouri debate & the Nullification Crisis
Article Summary #2 is due
Nov. 3 – Jacksonian Democracy
Nov. 8 – Unit Two Exam
Unit Three: Testing the New Nation
November 10 – December 8
Readings:
Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution
American Passages – Chapters 11-16
American Perspectives –
“The Search for Remedies” by Kenneth Stampp,
“The Dred Scott Case” by Don E. Fehrenbacher,
“The Lowest Ebb” by C. Vann Woodward,
“Liberty and Power in the Second American Revolution” by James M. McPherson,
“The Nadir of Race Relations” by John Boles.
Nov. 10 – the liberation of Spanish America & the Monroe Doctrine
Nov. 15 – Manifest Destiny & the Mexican War
Nov. 17 – Southern rights & the Compromise of 1850
Nov. 22 – the Impending Crisis
Nov. 24 – Book Exam on The Fires of Jubilee
Nov. 29 – descent into war
Dec. 1 – blood and freedom; the Emancipation Proclamation
Dec. 6 – the Era of Reconstruction
Article Summary #3 is due
Dec. 8 – reconstruction abandoned & the Compromise of 1877
Dec. 15 – Final Exam at 10am
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Note: The Instructor reserves the right to change various parameters of this syllabus at his discretion.
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