The United States To 1877
HIST 1301
Houston Community College
Spring 2011
Office: EDC-228
Instructor: Clayton Lust
Ph: 713-718-6063
Email: clayton.lust@hccs.edu
www.claytonlust.com
Office Hours – by appt.
Course Description: The first part of American history is one of great contradictions. It saw
some of the most barbaric acts, but also movements towards social justice. The story of the US
to 1877 is the story of the implementation of the world's largest system of slavery; the removal of
Native Americans east of the Mississippi; the conquest of a vast empire from Spain and Mexico;
and the triumph of urban values. But it is also the story of the defeat and collapse of slavery; the
American reform tradition; and new ideals of liberty, equality and democracy.
Disclaimer - Some of the topics we discuss in this class are violent and our discussions will not
sugarcoat the brutality. At times you may be offended - and you should be offended. Regardless,
the history taught in this class will be in no way sanitized.
Objectionable Materials Warning: Over the course of the semester I will utilize some film clips,
not as a substitute for lecture, but to allow us to move between the past and the present, and to
allow us to see how those in the past have viewed history. Some of the film clips that we will
view will contain scenes of explicit violence, sexual brutality, ethnic and gender stereotyping,
nudity, obscenity, adult themes, profanity, and offensive language that might be found
objectionable by some. There may also be ideas or practices endorsed by specific motion
pictures that some might consider immoral or amoral. All of these films, however, were already
in wide circulation in the culture at large and are, in the instructor’s opinion, essential to
understanding American cultural history
Books: All books are required
Foner - Give Me Liberty: An American History, Volume I. (FONER)
Various Authors, American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Volume I – 4th edition
Moretta, William Penn and the Quaker Legacy
Douglass, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave – downloadable at
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23/23-h/23-h.htm
Gienapp, Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography
Grading: Your grade in this class is arrived at in the following manner. There are 3 closed
book, closed note exams, the dates of which are below. The two mid term exams are worth 25%
apiece. The final exam is worth 30% of your grade. In addition there are three (3) quizzes from
the book American Perspectives that are worth a total of 15%. The final 5% will be determined
by the average from any pop quizzes taken this semester.
EXAM RULES – ONCE THE FIRST EXAM HAS BEEN TURNED IN, NO FURTHER
STUDENTS WILL BE PERMITTED ENTRY TO THE EXAM. THE MIDTERMS AND
FINAL WILL TAKE THE ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD, WHILE READER QUIZZES AND
BOOK TESTS WILL TAKE 15 MINUTES, AND WILL BE GIVEN AT THE
BEGINNING OF CLASS, SO PLAN TO BE ON TIME FOR ALL EXAMS AND
QUIZZES.
EXAM/QUIZ DATES:
Midterm 1 – Feb. 19, 2011
Midterm 2 - April 2, 2011
Final Exam – May 7, 2011
HCC’s final exam schedule
Reader Quiz 1 – Feb. 5, 2011
Reader Quiz 2 – March 12, 2011
Reader Quiz 3 – April 16, 2011
At the end of the semester I will take your accumulated points and add them together and assign
a grade on the following basis:
90-100 points = A
60-69 = D
80-89 = B
59 and below = F
70-79 = C
Student B
EXAMPLE: Student A
3
Reader Quiz 1
2
5
Reader Quiz 2
4
4
Reader Quiz 3
5
18
Midterm Exam I
23
22
Midterm Exam II
25
26
Final Exam
25
4
Pop Quiz Average
3
82
87
4
Pop Quiz Average
3
82
87
THERE ARE NO MAKE-UPS IN THIS CLASS EXCEPT IN CASES OF DIRE,
DOCUMENTED EMERGENCY. WHETHER A MAKEUP WILL BE GIVEN IS AT
84 OF THE INSTRUCTOR – YOU ARE NOT
76 ENTITLED TO A
THE SOLE DISCRETION
B
Final
C MAKEUP WILL
MAKEUP SIMPLY BECAUSE
YOU MISS
ANGrade
ASSIGNMENT. ANY
BE GIVEN ON MAY 13, 2011 AT 8 AM IN EDC 228– THIS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.
SIMILARLY, INCOMPLETES WILL BE GIVEN ONLY IN CASES OF EXTREME
EMERGENCY AND ONLY WHEN A STUDENT IS PASSING THE COURSE AT THE
TIME THE INCOMPLETE IS GRANTED – THE INCOMPLETE IS NOT AN OPTION
FOR THOSE WHO ARE FAILING THE CLASS.
Academic Honesty Policy
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCC policy and
by the rules of this class.
 Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either whole or in part)
without crediting the source and constitutes the theft of another person’s intellectual
property. It is the most common form of academic dishonesty. If you are unclear as to
what constitutes plagiarism, you should seek clarification before beginning an
assignment.
 Cheating involves fraud and deception for the purpose of violating legitimate testing
rules. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: copying from another student’s test paper,
using materials or resources not authorized by the instructor during an exam;
collaborating with another student during a test; knowingly using, buying, selling whole
or part of an unadministered test.
Academic dishonesty constitutes a severe violation of HCC policy and rules and is subject to
stringent penalties. Violations of these policies will result, at a minimum, in the automatic
failure of this course. Severe violations could result in suspension or expulsion from HCC.
FYIs
The Houston Community College System is an open-admission, public institution of higher
education offering academic preparation and lifelong learning opportunities that prepare
individuals in our diverse communities for life and work in an increasingly international and
technological society. The History Department will provide an environment conducive to
learning and encourages academic excellence. Furthermore the History faculty will encourage
the development of the following competencies: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Critical
Thinking, and Computer Literacy.
Disability Policy
Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing,
etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Support
Service Counselor, Jaime Torres (713 718-6164) at the beginning of the semester. Faculty
members are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Office of
Disability Support Services (DSS). Students who are requesting special testing accommodations
must first contact the office.
Attendance
Class attendance is expected and per HCC policy is mandatory. Attendance will be taken at the
beginning of each class - if you are late YOU WILL BE COUNTED AS ABSENT UNLESS
YOU SPEAK TO ME AT THE END OF CLASS - it is YOUR responsibility to let me know
you arrived, I will not track you down. Students are permitted three free absences, after that
the student will lose one point from their final grade for each additional absence. Students who
maintain perfect attendance will receive a 3-point bonus to their course grade. While HCC MAY
(and I stress may) administratively drop you if you miss more than six hours of in-class time,
deciding not to attend class will not result in MY dropping you – if you wish to drop the class it
is your responsibility to do so.
Tardiness - get here on time. Lateness happens, habitual lateness is inexcusable. If you are the
type of person who is constantly late, you should consider another class. If you come to class
more than one half hour late, I will not count you as present.
Classroom Behavior: THIS IS NOT THE 13TH GRADE. You are adults, and are expected to
behave as such. Come to class prepared to take notes every class period - a pen and notebook are
all you need to bring with you. Additionally I have a few very simple rules.
1. The ONLY person who should be talking is me. If you have a question raise your
hand - don't ask the person next to you, unless the person next to you has a PhD in history.
2. NO CELL PHONES. In case that wasn't clear, let me repeat - NO CELL
PHONES period. When you enter this classroom, cell phones are to be turned off or on
vibrate. DO NOT EVER answer a call in class. Do not text message in class either, I will
call you out on it if I see you using the phone in class. If you have a situation where it is
imperative you be reached, tell me beforehand.
3. You registered for this class - no one forced you to. Once you are here, you are here.
Do NOT get up and leave in the middle of class, unless you have spoken to me beforehand and I
have approved it.
4. Do not read materials for other classes, do homework, listen to CD/mp3 players, sleep,
or read newspapers.
5. Finally, respect your peers. Periodically we may have discussions in this class where
you will be asked to express your own ideas. This classroom and the class list serve must be
spaces in which people feel free to express thoughts. Someone may say something you
completely disagree with, that even I may disagree with. But I will not tolerate any circumstance
where students feel threatened or fearful of expressing ideas - after all that is why you are going
to college, to flesh out your ideas and beliefs and find a way to convey those to others.
Course Warning Label:
The instructor recognizes that virtually no learning takes place when students do not attend class
regularly, nor does it take place when students do not keep up with readings and related course
assignments. If you are not interested in attending class regularly, and if you are not interested in
completing assignments, both of which are strong indicators that you are not committed to your
own education or to learning more generally, then this class is going to be incredibly difficult on
you.
Course Schedule and readings
Date/Topics
Week 1/ Jan. 22
Introduction
Close Encounters
The Rest of the World in 1492
The First Americans
Christopher Columbus
The Significance of 1492
New World Slavery
"Northern" Slavery
Reading Assignments
Week 2/ Jan. 29
Myths about slavery
Why New World Slavery was different
Africa in the slave trade
Shakespeare's England
Enclosure
Mercantilism
The Wealth of Nations
Foner Ch. 2
AP, 13-24
Foner Ch 1
AP pp 1-12
Begin Reading Moretta book finish by first
exam
England's New World Colonies
Plantation Settlement
Irish Colonization
Week 3/ Feb. 5
Jamestown
Indentured Servitude
Bacon's Rebellion
Slavery in the English Colonies
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay
Pilgrims and Puritans
Puritanism as a revolutionary movement
Max Weber
Salem Witch Trials
The Great awakening
The Seven Years War
Reader Quiz I
Week 4/ Feb. 12
Long and short term causes of the American
Revolution
A revolutionary era
The keys to American victory
Slavery and the Revolution
The United States is born
Impact of the Revolutionary War
Review for Exam I
Week 5/ Feb. 19
Exam I
The Articles of Confedration
Conflict in the new nation
Shays' Rebellion
Week 6/ Feb. 26
The US Constitution
Charles Beard
Federalism
The Constitution and Slavery
Hamilton's Financial Plan
"Necessary and Proper?"
Week 7/ March 5
Crises Abroad
George Washington as president
The US in the 1790s
The Alien and Sedition Acts
States' Rights
Thomas Jefferson
Louisiana Purchase
Foner Ch.3
Foner Ch.5
Finish Moretta for Exam.
Begin reading Douglass for exam II
Foner Ch. 7
AP 49-82
Foner Ch. 8
Secession - in 1804?!
The War of 1812
1819 - it was a very good year
Reader Quiz II
Week 8/ March 12
The Missouri Crisis
Slave Rebellions
American Expansion
The Monroe Doctrine
PT Barnum and American Popular Culture
The Second Great Awakening
Transcendentalism
American Reform Movements
Moral Reform
Social Reform
Radical Reform
Colonization
Foner Ch. 9
AP 83-119
Week 9/ March 19
Spring Break – no classes
Week 10/ March 26
Anti-Slavery vs. Abolition
"First Wave" Feminism
Seneca Falls Convention
Review for Exam II
Foner Ch 12
Finish reading Douglass for exam II
Week 11/ April 2
Exam II
American Democracy Transforms
Election of 1824 and fallout
Transformation of the Democratic Party
Andrew Jackson
Week 12/ April 9
Nullification and its Wide Impact
The Nat Turner Rebellion
The Bank War
Immigration and the US Mythology and Texas
The Alamo
Texas's Revolution
Week 13/ April 16
Manifest Destiny
The War with Mexico
Fallout of the war
The Wilmot ProvisoThe Gold Rush
California
New Political Turmoil
The Know-Nothings
Crisis of 1850
Slavery Transformed
Reader Quiz III
Week 14/ April 23
The Slave Power Conspiracy
The Rest of the World on the eve of the US
Civil War
US Society and Sectional Difference
"Kansas-Nebraska Crisis
Dred ScottDiversion" and Foreign Policy
Civil War looming
John Brown's Raid
Election of 1860
The "Cooper Union" Address
Week 15/ April 30
Secession and Slavery
The Civil War and US Society
The Initial Goals
A War Transformed
Emancipation Proclamation
Black Soldiers and the Civil War - a Battle
Within
A New War -Total War
Begin reading Gienapp for final
Foner Ch. 10
AP – 120-132
Foner Ch. 13
AP 133-176
Foner Ch. 14
AP 177-213
Foner Ch. 15
Finish Gienapp book by April 28
The Union Transformed
Inevitable Victory?
Election of 1864
The Confederacy Transformed
Week 16/ May 8
The 2nd American Revolution?
Reconstruction
Freedman's Bureau
Radical Reconstruction
Reconstruction's End?
Review for Final Exam