HISTORY 1301 (Hybrid)
U.S. HISTORY TO 1877
CRN# 54216
8-11am Tuesdays, Room 220, The Learning Hub, Stafford
PROFESSOR: Dr. Michael McCormick
OFFICE: E121C, Scarcella Bldg., Stafford
OFFICE HOURS: 9:00-10:30am, Tuesday-Friday or by appointment
TELEPHONE: 713-718-6780
EMAIL: Mike.McCormick@hccs.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
History 1301 is a survey of American history from Native American cultures to 1877. It will focus
on the evolution of the economic, social/cultural and political institutions which define the development of
the modern United States and its people. Although this course is built around historical events and processes,
it is much more than a simple recitation of facts. Students will learn and apply critical thinking and problemsolving skills and will work with historical documents, maps and economic and demographic models.
History 1301 is an 8-week, 48 contact hour course which fulfills three hours of the state-mandated
six-hour history requirement. It is a hybrid class which will meet for three hours in-class each week and use
online resources for the other three hours.
Completion of this class will also improve performance in reading, writing, critical thinking,
communicating and computer skills.
Prerequisites: must be placed into college-level reading and college-level writing; computer literate.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To provide a comprehensive introduction to the essential social/cultural, political, military and
diplomatic elements of United States history before 1877.
2. To provide students with a thorough grounding in problem-solving and analytical thinking,
particularly as they relate to American history.
3. To provide students with training in skills essential to success in a college/university and/or work
environment.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Students will be able to create an argument through the use of historical evidence.
2. Students will be able to analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources.
3. Students will be able to analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, and cultural forces
on this period of U.S. history.
BOOKS
Required Text: Ayers, American Passages, Compact 4th edition, Volume 1.
Monographs: Price, Love & Hate in Jamestown, Vintage Paperback.
Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, 1790-1840. Harper Paperback.
Because the basic source of information for this course will be the Ayers textbook, it is essential that you buy
this text as soon as possible. Books should be available at the HCCS bookstore in the B building, Stafford.
However, given the poor performance of HCCS bookstores in providing books and the fact that they can be
purchased at less expense, you should seriously consider other sources. Cheaper sources might be Half-Price
Books, Amazon.com or other online sources. You may also use the e-Book version of the text available from
Cengage Publishers. I will also place some copies of Ayers on reserve in the library. If you have trouble
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finding or obtaining books, let me know as soon as possible. Do not wait until late in the semester to obtain
these books.
ASSIGNMENTS/GRADING
The final course grade will be based on the following elements:
1. Midterm and Final Exams (60%)
2. Class quizzes (20%) = four quizzes.
3. Book review essays (20%)
Each student will read the two (2) monographs listed above and write an 4-5 page directed essay on
each. The first paper ( Love and Hate in Jamestown) is due Tuesday, September 13; the second
(The Reshaping of Everyday Life) on Tuesday,October 11 Papers turned in late will have a
letter grade deducted for each day late. Failure to complete and turn in both papers will result in
automatic failure of the course. (See detailed instructions on Learning Web site.
Grading will follow the usual college standards (A=100-90; B=89-80; C+79-70, etc.) Grades will not be
curved. There will be no extra credit assignments. Be sure to keep up with your grade average as the semester
proceeds. If you have any questions about your grade situation, don’t hesitate to ask me.
ATTENDANCE
My attendance policy is relatively simple: this is a college course, you are adults and therefore you
should make up your own mind regarding whether you attend class. However, you should bear in mind that
regular attendance is critical to success in this course and failure to attend regularly is one of the most
important reasons for lack of success. If you miss a class, you are responsible for all information and
assignments given during that class.
I will not drop you for reasons of nonattendance. If you choose to stop attending class, it is
your responsibility to formally withdraw. You can do that at the Registrar’s Office at any Southwest
College campus. The last date for official withdrawal is Friday, September 30. Failure to officially
withdraw by that date will result in failure of the course.
International students, veterans, and those on financial aid should be fully aware of the grade and
minimum hours policies affecting your situation. In particular, pay attention to the rules regarding withdrawal
(“W”) from a course. Once a “W” is officially recorded it will not be changed to another grade regardless of
circumstances.
TARDINESS
Classes will start on time. Some of the most important information in any class is given during the
first 5 to 10 minutes. Frequent tardiness is one of the most significant indicators of poor performance in
college. If you have to be late, please enter the classroom as unobtrusively as possible and let me know after
class why you were late. Failure to respect this policy is usually the biggest reason for receiving a poor
Participation grade
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCCS policy and the
rules of this class. Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either in whole or in part)
without crediting the source. Plagiarism amounts to the theft of another person’s work and its appropriation
as one’s own. If you aren’t clear as to what constitutes plagiarism, ask me about it. I’ll be happy to clarify it
for you. 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, during a test,
materials not authorized by the instructor; collaborating with another student during a test; knowingly using,
buying, selling, etc. whole or part of an unadministered test. Any questions about academic dishonesty
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should be referred to the Student Conduct section of the College System catalogue. Violations of this policy
will result in automatic failure of the course and/or expulsion from the college.
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, Dr. Becky
Hauri (713 718-7909) 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 and other accommodations must first contact that office.
ONLINE ACCESS and RESOURCES
1. Eagle Online: go to the HCC Homepage (hccs.edu); click on “Online Courses” on the right hand side;
click on “Eagle Online login”; use your student ID number and the password “distance”. You can change
the password later.
2. Ayers, American Passages Student Resources: contains a variety of study aids keyed to the text. You
can reach this site at:
http://college.cengage.com/history/us/ayers/am_passages/4e/student_home.html
Follow instructions for registration and how to use student resources.
3. Learning Web: I will use the Learning Web as a backup to the Eagle Online site. In the event that Eagle
Online encounters problems, you can find the class syllabus, book review instructions and the study guide for
the Ayers text on my Learning Web site. You can access my Learning Web site at
http://swc2.hccs.edu/swc/learningweb/. Type in “McCormick” in the search box and it will take you to my
site. Alternatively, you can reach the Learning Web by accessing the HCC Homepage (hccs.edu), click on
Southwest College at the top, click on “Learning Web” in the right hand menu on the Southwest Homepage.
That should take you to the search box. If you have any difficulty with this, let me know as soon as possible.
ONLINE TUTORING
HCC offers an excellent resource for tutoring and for writing papers – AskOnline. You can access it at
http://hccs.askonline.net. Turn-around time for receiving help on papers is usually 18-24 hours, so you
should plan on submitting papers for help well before they are due. Visit the AskOnline website for details
and further information.
CLASS ROUTINE
History 1301 (Hybrid) is a highly intensive, fast-paced course. What is normally presented in a sixteen week
format has been redesigned to be done in eight weeks. That means that it is critically important that you keep
up and do assignments on a timely basis. Falling behind will more than likely seriously compromise your
chance of success.
Because this is a hybrid class, it will meet in the classroom only one day a week for three hours. During that
period I will lecture on the most important course topics, lead discussions and answer questions. Class
quizzes and both the midterm and final exams will be given in class. A short multiple choice quiz covering
reading and discussion from the previous week will be given at the beginning of each class
Given the nature of hybrid courses, students are responsible for a large amount of work outside of class. In
fact, this class is to some extent an online class with the addition of class time to allow for discussion,
questions and some testing. The text – Ayers, American Passages, Volume 1 – will be the basis for much of the
factual information that is the foundation for this course. Therefore it is essential that students keep up with
weekly reading assignments (see Calendar below). To assist you, I have created a study guide for the text that
breaks down each chapter in terms of important events and concepts and cites key terms, names and the like.
The multiple choice quizzes given each class period will be created from those key terms and names.
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Additionally, the study guide will provide broad summary or focus questions. These will be the basis for inclass discussions. Some of these will be chosen for the midterm and final exams.
HISTORY 1301(Hybrid)
Calendar and Assignments
Week One (August 30)
Course Orientation and Introduction
Ayers, Chpts. 1-2
Key Topics:
 Native Americans before Columbus
 Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade
 European discovery, exploration and early settlement
 Jamestown
 The Settlement of New England
 English Colonization after 1660
Week Two (September 6)
Quiz: Chpts. 1-2
Ayers, Chpts. 3-5
Key Topics:
 Rebellions and problems in the 17th century English colonies
 Slavery in English America
 The economic life of the English American colonies
 Intellectual and religious change: the Enlightenment and Great Awakening
 The Seven Years’ War and its impact
 Colonial politics and government
 The move toward revolution, 1763-1776
Week Three (September 13)
Book Review due: Price, Love & Hate in Jamestown
Quiz: Chpts. 3-5
Ayers, Chpts. 6-7
Key Topics:
 Creating a New Government: the Articles of Confederation
 The Constitution of 1787: origins, debates and ratification
 Washington’s presidency
 Foreign policy and partisan politics under John Adams
Week Four (September 20)
Midterm
Ayers, Chpt. 8
Key Topics:
 The Second Great Awakening
 The Jeffersonian Revolution
 The War of 1812
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Week Five (September 27)
Ayers, Chpts. 9-11
Key Topics:
 The presidency of Andrew Jackson
 Revivalism and reform in the early 19th century
 Slavery as an economic, social and cultural institution in the Slave South
 American expansionism
Week Six (October 4)
Quiz: Chpts 9-11
Ayers, Chpts. 12-14
Key Topics:
 The Mexican-American War
 Slavery and political crisis:
o California and the Compromise of 1850
o The Kansas-Nebraska crisis and its consequences
 The move toward secession: Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Harpers Ferry
 The Election of 1860
 The first wave of secession and Fort Sumter
 North v South: strengths, weaknesses and problems
Week Seven (October 11)
Book Review due: Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life
Quiz: Chpts. 12-14
Ayers, Chpt. 15-16
Key Topics:
 The Union and Confederate home fronts.
 Lincoln’s reconstruction
 Andrew Johnson: reconstruction and the Republican opposition
 The Reconstruction Act of 1867
 Grant and the end of Reconstruction.
Week Eight (October 18)
Final Exam
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