History 2365-N1: History of the United States to 1877
Fall 2015
Dr. SoRelle
Office: 208 Tidwell
Office Phone: 710-4621
Office Hours: MTWR 3:30-5:00 p.m.
& by appointment
E-Mail: James_SoRelle@baylor.edu
Course Syllabus
New Student Experience (NSE): Welcome to Baylor! To ease your transition
from high school to college, all incoming students are required to take a New
Student Experience (NSE) course. NSE courses provide the opportunity for
first-semester students to form meaningful connections with each other and
with faculty in an academic community and are designed to support your
success by engaging you academically, socially, and spiritually in the earliest
stages of student development. NSE courses also introduce students to the key
values of a liberal education including critical thinking, effective
communication, the integration of faith and learning, and civic engagement
through the lens of a particular discipline—in this case, history.
By the end of the first year, through your participation in the overall New
Student Experience programming at Baylor including Orientation, Line Camp,
Move-In, Welcome Week, Chapel, and this NSE course, we hope you will:
1.
Understand Baylor’s mission and learning outcomes
2.
Connect to Baylor
3.
Engage in spiritual formation
4.
Develop personal and professional goals
5.
Succeed academically
6.
Develop autonomy through caring community
Learn more at http://www.baylor.edu/nse
COURSE OBJECTIVES: HIS 2365 is the first half of a two-course introductorylevel study of United States history. The material presented in the class will
cover the period from approximately 1500 to 1877 and will treat various
aspects of early American and United States history, including politics,
economics, social and cultural developments, and diplomatic affairs. In
addition, as a credit-bearing NSE course, we will relate your experiences as
first-semester undergraduates to the experiences of the various groups of
settlers who arrived on the land mass we now know as the United States of
America. In other words, consider yourself as colonists who are venturing out
and encountering a new environment that will in certain ways become your
new home and will inform your intellectual, social, and cultural development
over the next four years. Objectives for this course include the following:
1.
To provide an informative framework through which the student
may acquire a deeper and more objective view of the history of the
United States and its people.
2.
To introduce historical literature that will broaden the student’s
understanding of specific individuals, events, ideas, or eras that
were critical in the nation’s past.
3.
To encourage students to think analytically about the past and to
articulate those thoughts in both oral and written form.
4.
To present a broad-based set of topics that is informative,
interesting, and intellectually challenging.
STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE: This course will follow a lecture/discussion
format. Students are expected to be active participants in discussions
pertaining to the course materials.
ATTENDANCE: The College of Arts and Sciences Attendance Policy requires
that you attend a minimum of 75 percent of all scheduled class meetings.
Attendance will be recorded at each class meeting, and your grade will be
affected by poor attendance. Please try to arrive promptly, and plan to stay
until you are dismissed. (Should you arrive in class after I have taken the roll,
it is your responsibility to make sure that your attendance is accurately
recorded.) You will be able to check your attendance record on Black Board. If
at some point during the semester you should reach five (5) absences, I will
alert you to this fact via e-mail. Any student who misses more than seven (7)
classes for any reason will automatically fail the course, regardless of your
grade at the time the eighth absence occurs. Students with perfect attendance
for the semester will receive one point on their final semester average.
HIS 2366 Syllabus (cont.)
GRADES: Your course grade will be determined by your performance on
the following:
Reading Quizzes (10%): There will be a short essay quiz for each of
the six supplemental readings in this course. Your highest five (5)
scores will be used to determine this segment of your grade.
Writing Assignments (15%): Each student will submit three (3)
short papers over the course of the semester. The guidelines for these
papers are included at the end of this syllabus.
Class Participation (15%): Students will be expected to engage the
course materials through dialogue and exchange during class
discussions. Since you must be present to actively participate,
excessive absences will adversely affect this part of your grade.
Exam I (20%): An 80-minute exam with identification questions and
essays.
Exam II (20%): Same format as Exam I with questions drawn
from materials covered in the second part of course.
Final Exam (20%): Two-hour exam (same format as previous exams)
with questions covering only material presented in the last third of the
course.
Make-Up Policy: Make-ups for the reading quizzes will be
possible ONLY if you miss a quiz because of illness (doctor’s
verification required) or a University-sponsored event. If for any
reason you are unable to take either of the first two examinations,
you will be given an opportunity near the end of the semester to
complete the missed work. You will not be allowed to make up a
missed Final Exam without prior approval from the instructor.
The following scale will be used to determine your final grade:
91 - 100 = A
89 - 90 = A87 - 88 = B+
71 – 76 = C
69 – 70 = C67 – 68 = D+
81 - 86 = B
79 - 80 = B77 - 78 = C+
61 – 66 = D
59 – 60 = D0 – 58 = F
CLASSROOM POLICIES: Departmental policy prohibits the audio or video
recording of classroom lectures. Laptops and iPads are permitted for taking
notes but may not be used as recording devices or for any non-class-related
activity. Cell phones and MP3 players should be turned off during class time.
REQUIRED READINGS: The following books have been selected by the
instructor for your reading pleasure this semester.
Alfred A. Cave, The Pequot War (1996)
Frank Lambert, “Pedlar in Divinity”: George Whitefield and the
Transatlantic Revivals (1994)
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776, 2015)
Marla R. Miller, Rebecca Dickinson: Independence for a New England
Woman, 1738-1815 (2014)
Melton A. McLaurin, Celia, A Slave (1991)
Amy S. Greenberg, A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U. S.
Invasion of Mexico (2012)
HONOR CODE: “Baylor University students, staff, and faculty shall act in
academic matters with the utmost honesty and integrity.” It is a violation of
the Baylor Honor Code: to submit the work of someone else as one’s own work
for course credit; to plagiarize; to submit work previously offered for credit in
another course without permission of the current instructor; to use
unauthorized material while taking an exam; to give, receive, or obtain
information to assist on an examination during the exam period; or failing to
report dishonorable conduct.
Source:
Baylor University Office of Academic Integrity, Academic
Integrity and Honor Code
Mapworks: Between September 9 and October 5, you will be prompted to take
the Mapworks assessment online. I will be reminding you about this, and I
strongly encourage you to complete the assessment. Upon completion, you will
receive a personalized report identifying your academic and personal strengths
History 2366 Syllabus (cont.)
and weaknesses, with recommendations to help you maximize your success at
Baylor and beyond. As your New Student Experience instructor, I will be
monitoring your progress in Mapworks. Please feel free to bring your report by
my office so that we can discuss it in the context of your academic progress.
Academic Success: As a longtime faculty member, I have high academic
expectations of you and believe every student who has been admitted to Baylor
can be successful. If for some reason your academic performance in this class
is substandard, I will submit an Academic Warning to the Success Center
during the sixth week of the semester and will work to get the help you need to
perform more effectively in this course. I recommend that you familiarize
yourself with the culture of success we have at Baylor by stopping by the Paul
L. Foster Success Center in Sid Richardson or by going to:
http://www.baylor.edu/successcenter/. Even if you do not need help, you can
get involved by tutoring students in the future or assisting other struggling
students in knowing how and where to get help.
Students with Accommodation Needs: Any student who needs academic
accommodations related to a documented disability should inform me
immediately at the beginning of the semester. You are responsible for
obtaining appropriate documentation and information regarding
accommodations from the Baylor University Office of Access and Learning
Accommodation (OALA). Contact Information: 254-710-3605 - Paul L. Foster
Success Center, 1st floor on the East Wing of Sid Richardson.
Course Outline
Date
Topic
Aug. 25
Introduction
27
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Reading Assignment
Europe on the Eve of Colonization
1
American Beginnings and the Clash
of Cultures
3
The American Sense of Mission
8
Localism in America
10
The Salem Hysteria
15
Labor in a Land of Opportunity
17
Evangelical Enthusiasm
22
Exam I
24
The Birth of Nationalism
29
The Movement toward Independence
6
The War for Independence
8
Building a Constitutional Framework
Cave, The Pequot War
Lambert, “Pedlar in
Divinity”
Paine, Common Sense
13
Federalists and Republicans
15
The Roots of American Foreign Policy
20
Gender in the Early Republic
22
Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the
Common Man
27
Indian Relocation and the “Trail of Tears”
29
The Rebirth of the Two-Party System
3
Exam II
Miller, Rebecca
Dickinson
History 2366 (cont.)
Date
Nov.
Dec.
Topic
5
Reading Assignment
Democracy and the Age of Reform
10
The Peculiar Institution
12
The Debate over Slavery
17
Manifest Destiny and the War
With Mexico
19
The Politics of Slavery
24
The Secession Crisis
26
Thanksgiving Holiday
McLaurin, Celia
Greenberg, A Wicked
War
1
The Civil War and the Triumph of
Nationalism
3
Reconstruction and Its Legacy
Make-Up Exams: Monday, November 9
3:30 p.m.
Final Exam: Section N1: Tuesday, December 15
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Instructions for Writing Assignments
Writing Assignment # 1: Due September 10
Research and present the results of a genealogical exploration of your
family background as far back as possible to answer the basic questions
“Who am I?” and “What are my family origins?” Your findings can be
presented in written form or as a family tree or some combination
thereof.
Writing Assignment # 2: Due October 29
Write a review of no more than 1000 words (three to four typed doublespaced pages) of a historical work that covers some aspect of the time
period from 1607 to 1877. The book you select should be determined in
consultation with your instructor, and your essay should provide a critical
analysis of the work rather than simply a report of what the author
presents. More information on this assignment will be presented in class
and through student appointments with the instructor.
Writing Assignment # 3: Due November 24
Write a critical analysis of one of the final two books assigned for this
course (Melton McLaurin’s, Celia or Amy Greenberg’s, A Wicked War) in
response to the prompts provided below. Your essay should be 3-4 typed,
double-spaced pages in length. The text of your paper should include a
solid introduction and conclusion. The body of the paper should explore
the prompt as thoroughly as possible, using evidence from the selected
reading. If you use direct quotations to support your arguments, be sure
to cite page numbers from the source. Proofread your paper carefully to
avoid poor grammar, awkward sentence structure, sentence fragments,
typos and misspellings. This matters in your overall grade for the
assignment.
Prompt A: What does Celia’s story tell us about the status of
slaves in the antebellum South?
Prompt B: Based on your reading of Amy Greenberg’s book,
was the United States’ war with Mexico in the mid-1840s
unavoidable and fully justified?