COURSE TITLE: HIS 121
INSTRUCTOR: Scott Wade M.A.
OFFICE: D116 HOURS: TBA
E-MAIL: sew230@email.vccs.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a survey of United States history from the arrival of the
First Americans through Reconstruction. We will consider political, economic, religious,
diplomatic, cultural, ethnic and social aspects of early American and United States history.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To apply college-level reading and writing skills to works of history.
2. Allow students to develop their own interpretative frameworks for understanding the
significance of various developments in modern American history.
3. Provide students with a strong conceptual background to interpret conflict and social change
in American culture both in the past and in the present.
COURSE FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS: The course will consist of a combination of
lecture, class discussion, written work and three (3) tests including the final exam. One major
component will a history journal consisting of written assignments pertaining to the week’s
chapters that will be taken from a variety of sources including the textbook and WWW. All
journal entries should be kept in a folder or a binder. Journals will be collected twice during the
semester. It is in your best interest to keep up with assignments rather than letting them pile up
until the due date. Throughout the semester there will be opportunities for extra credit with a
maximum of six points that could be added to the overall grade.
TEXTBOOK:
Roark, James L. et al. The American Promise: A History of the United States, 3rd
Edition. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 2005
Jacobson, Fran et al. Voices from History, Boston: St. Martin’s Press, current
edition
Supplemental readings as assigned
ATTENDANCE: It is assumed that students taking college level courses have the maturity to
attend class without coercion. Although attendance will not be counted toward the final grade,
more than five absences before the withdrawal date will result in the student being dropped from
class. Roll will not be taken every class period. There will be an attendance sheet provided that
will be the student’s responsibility to sign. There will be periodic “spot checks” in which those in
attendance will receive bonus points on the next test. Also, there will be in-class work that will
not be eligible for make-up.
GRADES:
Grades will be calculated on a 500-point system as follows:
Three tests
Two writing assignments
One History Journal
60%/ 20% each/ 100 pts.
20%/ 10% each/ 100 pts.
20%/100pts.possible
The final grade is determined by the point total: 450-500=A; 400-449=B; 350-399=C; and 300349=D
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Cheating will not be tolerated and will result in the failure of the
class.
COURSE CALENDAR: This syllabus should be considered tentative and subject to change
according to the progress of class.
WEEK I
May 21 – Introduction to course
Chapter 1
May 23
The Age of Exploration
Chapter 2
Reading: “Why did Cortez win?” TAP
History Journal:
The Columbian Exchange
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/columbus/columbus_teacher.cfm#ramifications
In about one page, complete exercise 3
WEEK II
May 30
Chapter 3
Virginia and The Southern Colonies
Reading: Historical Question Pages 82 and 90 TAP
History Journal: Choose one:
Indentured Servant's Confession (1684)
http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/pre_18thcentury/indenturedservitude/pop_confession.html
From the Confession, describe the nature of the servants’ crimes. Who was involved in the illegal
activities? Who was the ringleader? What evidence could you supply to support your choice?
Why do you think that indentured servants took part in the crimes?
Or Read “Our Plantation Is Very Weak”: The Experiences of an Indentured Servant in Virginia,
1623http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6475
Describe John Frethorne’s personal situation. What has happened to the colony? What are the
relationships between colonists? What does Frethorne want from his father? What do these
passages contribute to our understanding of the institution of indenture in seventeenth-century
Chesapeake?
WEEK III
June 4
Chapter 4
The Puritans
History Journal: Witchcraft in Salem
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us5.cfm
Read the sources and answer the three questions.
June 6
Chapter 5
Lecture: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
History Journal: Slavery Fact sheet
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/slav_fact.cfm
Come up with three to five items that you think are interesting and explain why
WEEK IV
June 11
Chapter 6
The French and Indian War
History Journal: Toward Revolution
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us6.cfm
Read documents 1-7 and answer questions 1-4
June 13
Chapter 6 (cont.)
TEST I
WEEK V
June 18
The Revolutionary War
Chapter 7
First writing assignment due
June 20
The Constitution
Chapter 8
History Journal: The Constitution
Take a few minutes to read over the Bill of Rights in the Appendix and then look at the remaining
17 Amendments to the Constitution.
What Five (5) Amendments to the Constitution do you think have been the most important to the
USA? And why?
WEEK VI
June 25
The New Nation
Chapter 9
Read the Historical Question (P. 298) TAP Washington and Adams
History Journal: The Alien and Sedition Acts
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/laws/alien_sedition.html
After reading the documents, answer the question: Does the government have a right in times of
stress to take away individual liberties for the good of the nation?
June 27
Chapter 10
Jeffersonian America
Read the Historical Question on p. 332 in TAP
History Journals due
WEEK VII
July 2
Chapter 11
The Age of Jackson
History Journal :Indian Removal
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us12.cfm
Read the documents and answer questions 1-4
TEST II
WEEK VIII
July 9
The West and the South
Ch. 12
History Journal: Manifest Destiny
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us17.cfm
Answer questions 1-6
July 11
Ch. 13
The West and the South (cont.)
Second writing assignment due
WEEK IX
July 16
Ch. 14
The Impending Crisis
History Journal: Read the arguments for and against slavery. In about a page summarize the
arguments from both sides. How did the South defend slavery, and what were the abolitionists
arguments.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/19thcentury/debateoverslavery/assignment.php
July 18
The Civil War, 1861-1863
Chapter15
History Journal: Selected Civil War Photographs Collection: American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
Search through the Civil War photograph collection at the Library of Congress. Pick some images
that strike as important and describe why. Are there any common themes in the photographs?
What is shown in the majority of the photographs?
WEEK X
July 23
The Civil War, 1863-1865
Chapter 15
History Journal Documenting the American Promise
Page 538
From the letters, what can you tell about the social and economic status of the Epperly’s? (rich,
poor, educated, etc…) For Marion and Mary Epperly, what explains the suffering of the South in
the Civil War? Do they see the matter differently? From the letters, can you find out what some
of the reasons why Marion decided to fight for the Confederacy?
July 25
Reconstruction
Chapter 16
History Journal: Reconstruction
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us21.cfm
Read the primary sources and answer questions 1-5
July 30
Final Exam