Fall 2015
AMH 2041: Origins of American Civilization
Instructor: Mr. William Gonzalez
Office hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays – 6:45 a.m. – 7:15 a.m.
Email address: wgonzalez@dadeschools.net
Course overview and objectives:
AMH 2041 Origins of American Civilization is designed to provide a general introduction to American History from its origins to Reconstruction. You will learn about and be able to explain some of the key developments in the history American Civilization between 1492 and 1877. We begin with the basic question of who “discovered” America by looking briefly at
Amerindian peoples who settled various parts of the Americas prior to the European colonial ventures of the 15th century. We examine the initial contacts between Europeans, Native
Americans and Africans in the New World and the effects of early colonial settlements on the peoples they displaced. We then turn to the “triangular” Atlantic slave trade initiated by the
Portuguese in the 15th century and its consequences for economic and social relations in the
Americas, and also take into account the contributions of African slaves to New World economies and culture. We examine the importance of religion and European political ideas in shaping the colonial settlements, while also allowing for how the environment of the New World produced a particular kind of “European” man or woman, and how they came to decide their
“rights” were best vouchsafed by declaring independence from Great Britain. We then consider the fulfillment of the revolutionary legacy and what kind of society and culture was created in the early republic before turning to the 19th century westward expansion and democratization of
American politics. We look at the contradictions of this democracy, with territorial expansion at the expense of Native Americans, white wealth and liberty dependent on African slave labor.
Slavery was at the crux of a complex of issues that divided the North and South, and we end our course by examining the causes of the Civil War and its legacy.
In addition to acquiring knowledge of historical content, you will become more experienced in understanding, analyzing, and evaluating written arguments. We will examine different approaches to writing history, and by the end of the term you should be able to interpret varied sources and have some sense of how historians use them to research and write history. In this class you will learn to approach what you read with a healthy amount of skepticism, and you will also begin to think about how to analyze change over time. You will learn to identify the difference between secondary and primary sources, practice interpreting evidence, and learn to use writing to hone your thinking. You will learn and apply the techniques of writing an argumentative, thesis-driven and evidence-based paper as we construct our own written arguments.
This is a Gordon Rule class and you will have a number of writing assignments that will require you to communicate your understanding of the course readings and lectures clearly and argumentatively at a college level. In order to receive credit for a Gordon Rule course you must earn a grade of C or higher.

Required Texts
The following books are required for the class:
The following books are required for the class:
America’s History Volume One to 1877, Seventh Edition by James A. Heneretta, David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil Textbook
Founding Brothers: A Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by
Himself (1845).
Additional required readings will occasionally be required, will advise in class.
Writing Resources
FIU has a writing center whose mission is to help students improve their writing. I encourage all students to make use of its service. http://w3.fiu.edu/writingcenter/
Electronic Devices
Out of respect for the Instructor and for the other students in the course, I ask that all cell phones, and other wireless devices be turned off for the duration of class. Texting during class is disrespectful and disruptive. I expect that laptop computers be used for the purpose of taking notes or completing research assignments, not for surfing the web or checking email during class. Failure to comply with these policies will affect your grade and may result in official action.
Communicating with Instructors
If you are having trouble understanding the course material or policies, are concerned about your progress in the course, or have other questions, please stop by during weekly office hours,
Wednesdays and Thursdays 6:45 a.m. – 7:15 a.m. or schedule an appointment to meet with the teacher. Weekly office hours are dedicated to answering your questions and helping you succeed in the course. I will also respond to formally composed emails. Remember that this is not an email or text to your close friend. Please do not wait until the last minute to email me with problems. The appropriate time to discuss your performance in the course is during the semester, not at the end of it. Grades will never be discussed over email—you must make an appointment or come to office hours for that issue.
Exams Policy
The questions will be drawn from assigned readings, lectures, films, and discussions. Only a physician’s note will be accepted if you are absent from an exam. A missed midterm or final without such a formal excuse will result in a grade of 0 (Note: not an F or a 59, but a 0).
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. If you are caught plagiarizing or cheating, you risk being expelled as per University policy. In this and all other respects I expect you to adhere to the FIU Student Standards of Conduct http://www2.fiu.edu/~jms/standards_of_conduct.htm. Your written work will be screened using plagiarism detection software after you upload it to turnitin.com. Questions about plagiarism and citations will also be on the other exams and quizzes throughout the course. Using other people’s research or writing without properly quoting and citing their work constitutes a serious problem for you and for the University as a whole.
Succeeding in this Course
In order to succeed in this course you will need to do several things. You will need to listen to the lectures and take notes on them. You will need to do the assigned readings and be prepared to talk about them in your discussion sections. And you will need to use your critical thinking skills. This history course—like every other history course you will take at FIU—is not mainly about memorizing facts and dates (though getting the facts and dates correct is also important). It is about developing the skills of interpretation and synthesis in spoken and written communication.
Be sure to carefully read all instructions in the syllabus and other handouts.
The lectures will generally follow the topics covered in the textbook, but not exactly. For this reason, you should not rely on the textbook as a replacement for the lectures. Also you should not rely on the lectures as a replacement for the textbook. For exams and essays you will be responsible for topics and ideas conveyed in readings, lectures, and your discussion section.
Your textbook includes discussion questions, review topics, timelines, maps, and a glossary. Use these resources!
Please ask questions when you do not understand something. Everyone learns more when people feel free to test ideas and ask questions to clarify what they are not sure about. If you do not understand something, you can be certain that at least a few other people in the class are in the same boat.
Grading

You are responsible for keeping track of your own performance in the course. Instructors will not provide you with information about your overall course grade throughout the semester. We will not discuss grades over email. However, you can track your own grade using the following formula:
First Paper (mini) [15%]
Write a paper with a THESIS STATEMENT and ARGUMENT about the text assigned in your readings. Your paper will be a response to one of the questions provided, with your answer serving as your thesis statement. The paper will be two to three pages long
This paper will help you practice writing history before the short papers, which count for a larger portion of your grade.
Source Analysis Essays (two papers at 25% each) [50%]
Write a paper with a THESIS STATEMENT and ARGUMENT.
Your thesis statement will be a response to one of the question provided. Each paper should be four to five pages long.
PowerPoint Presentation [15%]
Project must be presented in front of class. Grading will b e based on the information and presentation. Topics will be chosen in consultation with teacher.
Final Exam [10%]
Given in class; based on readings and lectures. Students will receive prior notice. Only a doctor’s note will serve as an excused absence. In order to make up the midterm, student will have to arrange an appointment with Instructor. Appointments will be given in the morning, at
6:45 a.m.
Discussion section participation [10%]
Attendance, preparation for discussion, refraining from disruptive behavior, and being prepared to discuss the issues at hand. The discussions will be based on the readings, lectures, films and prior discussions. Students will lead the discussion with the
Instructor guiding the sessions. Students are expected to take notes, as well as having questions prepared for the session itself.
Letter
Grade
A
Points
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
D
F
100-
95
94-91
90-87
86-84
83-80
79-76
75-70
69-60
59 or lower

Course Contract
(Print and sign, and turn in to next class meeting. Failure to sign contract will result in grade penalty.)
I have read the syllabus and the instructions for AMH 2041Fall 2015 and I have asked my
Instructors to explain any questions I have about the syllabus and course policies. I agree to all of the terms.
Exams and Quizzes
* Failure to appear for exam without a doctor’s note will result in a grade of 0.
* No make-up quizzes are offered and there is no extra credit.
* I am responsible for keeping track of my own grades, and for keeping a copy of all my work. I will present that work in the event I request the instructors to correct a grading error.
Gordon-Rule requirements : In keeping with the Gordon Rule requirements, both the writing and the content contribute to your grade for all assignments. You need at least a C to get
Gordon-Rule credit. FIU assigns an F (F = zero) to students who fail a course based on course standards.
The university requires that Gordon Rule students must demonstrate “college-level writing skills” in written work with the following characteristics:

It has a clear purpose and thesis or controlling idea.

The thesis is supported with adequate reasons and evidence.

It shows sustained analysis and critical thought.

It is organized clearly and logically.
 It shows knowledge of conventions of standard written English.

It shows awareness of disciplinary conventions in regard to content, style, form, and delivery method.
Papers : Paper topics will be announced two weeks prior to the due date and discussed during the lecture and during the discussion sessions before they are due. Please note that you are NOT
ALLOWED to use outside sources for your papers, with the exception of a dictionary and articles/books approved by your Instructor.

Paper Format
* Document your sources using the Chicago-style format.
* Number your pages (not including the title page, if used).
* Double-space your text, except for notes and any block quotations
* Papers must be formatted using the Chicago-style Format. Please use the Owl Purdue Website to assist you with any formatting issues. Website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/
Please note: The use of anyone else’s words in my written work without quotes and citations — whether from another student, from assigned readings, or from outside sources (which are not to be used in this course anyway!)—constitutes plagiarism and will be reported to the University.
We will use Turnitin.com and other methods to screen for plagiarism. Papers must be submitted electronically to Turnitin.com and in hard copy . Both are required, papers will be considered late unless both the hard and the electronic copy are submitted on time.
All papers must be typed.
General
* I will bring copies of the syllabus and appropriate assigned readings to every class.
* I will bring a #2 pencil to every class, in order to take the quiz.
* I will turn off my cell phone; refrain from texting, and talking during class. I will struggle to stay awake no matter how boring it is. Non-compliance may mean I will have to leave the classroom.
* I have read the syllabus.
Signed name
Written name Date
Parent Signature

Week One Lesson Plan*
*Note, lesson plans including due dates are subject to revision at the Professor’s discretion.
Course Overview and Introduction
Lecture Topics (First Week)
I. Introduction
II. How to Use the Syllabus
III. Why study history? What is historical inquiry?
Key Terms
Enclosure acts gentry Price revolution mercantilism
Outwork predestination Indulgences mestizo
The Columbian Exchange conquistadors Nuevo Mundo
Trade Slaves civic humanism Heresies dower
Reconquista
Primogeniture yeoman Peasant clan
Discussion Section
Potential quiz on key terms/course overview, syllabus, and readings, make sure to bring a #2 pencil.
Reading Assignments

Read your syllabus and sign the contract.

Review the Plagiarism Tutorial at http://coeweb.fiu.edu/plagiarism/

Assigned reading:
Questions for Consideration
What are some of the key questions that historians grapple with?
What is the value of approaching topics from an historical perspective?
Course Schedule for AMH- 2041:
Week 1 August 24th: Worlds Collide: Europe, Africa, and America 1450 -1620
Introduction to course
Review of syllabus
Course Contract
FIU Application
FIU Book Voucher
Read: The class syllabus and sign the course contract, Read pages 5 – 20 in the textbook.
Week 2 Aug. 21st: West African Society and Slavery, Europeans Explore America, and the
Protestant Reformation and the Rise of England
Key questions: Review the differences in customs between the different native tribes of the area.
Explore the religious issues that influence the many societies of the time period. Discuss and lecture on the economic effects slavery had on the time period.

Visit to the Media Center – presentation by Media Specialist based on primary and secondary resources, teaching students how to use the resources available in the Media Center, as well as online resources. Lecture on the use of the Chicago-style format.
Read: pages 20 – 35, what were the major branches of Protestant reform, and how did the religious wars affect the Americas?
Week 3 Sep. 7th: The Invasion and Settlement of North America 1550 – 1700
Key Questions: How did the native inhabitants of the Americas transform their environments?
What natural constraints put them at a disadvantage to Europeans? Provide primary resources to guide lecture.
The Mesoamerican peoples devised complex ways of organizing society, government, and religious worship, is there still elements in our society that reflect the Mesoamerican peoples?
Read: pages 37 – 50, why did Elizabeth agree to charter a colony in America, and how successful were the first attempts?
Draft of first Reaction paper due on Tuesday, September 8th and Wednesday, September 9th.
Final first reaction paper is due Monday, September 8th and Tuesday, September 14th.
Week 4 Sep. 14th: Masters, Servants, and Slaves relationships, The Seed’s of Social Revolt, and Puritan New England
Key Questions: Where and why did Spain establish colonies in North America, and how did native peoples resist colonization? How did the Chesapeake colonies support the aims of British mercantilism?
Read: pages 51 – 61, why did slavery replace servitude as the dominant labor system in Virginia and Maryland?
Paper Due Monday,
Week 5 Sep. 21st: The Eastern Indians’ New World and the Human and Environmental
Impact of the Fur Trade
Key Questions: Despite a period of intense enslavement of native peoples, African slavery emerged as the dominant labor system throughout these regions. Why do you think so?
Read: pages 61 – 67. Compare “A Relacion of the Indyan Warre” by John Easton, short narrative of “My Proceedings” by Edward Randolph, and “Entertaining passages” by Benjamin
Church, do the documents agree or disagree? How do they agree and disagree? Which document provides the most evidence of the situation taking place during the War of 1675-1676?
Week 6 Sep. 28th: Source Analysis Essay - Paper 2 Discussion: The British Empire in
America 1660-1750
Key Questions: Discuss the goals of the directors of the Virginia Company and the leaders of the
Massachusetts Bay Company. Where did they succeed? In what ways did they fall short? Why was there no major witchcraft scares in the Chesapeake colonies and no uprising like Bacon’s
Rebellion in New England?
Read: 69 – 78, The Politics of Empire 1660-1713. Who settled the earliest New England colonies, and why? What was the role of the colonies in the British mercantilist system? Explain the causes and the results of the Glorious Revolutions in England and America. Start the research for your essay.

Week 7 Oct. 5th: Source Analysis Essay - Paper 2 Questions: The Imperial Slave Economy
Key Questions: What were the sources of stability and conflict in early New England? The mid-
Atlantic colonies also enjoyed a rapid growth of people and wealth, but political wrangling as well as ethnic and religious diversity made for a higher level of social conflict.
Read: pages 79 -89, what is the Middle Passage? How did sugar affect the slave trade and the economy? What is a slave’s perspective of the slave trade? What impact did religion have on slavery?
Week 8 Oct. 12th: Source Analysis Essay - Paper 2 Questions: The Rise of the Southern
Gentry, Northern Maritime Economy, and the New Politics of Empire 1713-1750
Key Questions: What evidence does Equiano offer in his description of the Middle Passage that explains the average slave mortality rate of about 15 percent during the Atlantic crossing? Based on the primary sources researched, what view do you hold of the slave trade, base your explanation on religious and economic issues? In general, how was society affect by the slave trade? Describe a day in the life of a female slave, what were her biggest concerns?
Read: pages 90 - 101, describe the dramatic expansion of the British Empire in North America in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. What role did the South Atlantic play?
Week 9 Oct. 19th: Source Analysis Essay DUE: Freehold Society in New England and the
Middle Atlantic: Toward a New Society, 1720 – 1765
Key Questions: The migration of family groups and a rough equality of wealth lent stability to early New England society, reinforced by the settlers’ shared commitment to Puritanism and a strong tradition of self-government.
Read: Chapter 4: Growth and Crisis in Colonial Society 1720 – 1765 pages 103 – 126.
Week 10 Oct. 26th Toward Independence: Years of Decision 1763 –
1776
Key Questions: In what ways were the lives of women and men in New England similar?
Different? What issues divided the various ethnic and religious groups of the middle colonies?
How did Quakers maintain their economic and political primacy as Europeans from other cultures and traditions flooded into Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century?
Read: Chapter 5 – Toward Independence: Years of Decision 1763 -1776 pages 137 -151
Week 11 Nov. 2nd The Road of Independence, Making War and
Republican Governments
Key Questions: How did the Great War for Empire change the relationship between England its
American Colonies? Why did the colonists object to the new taxes in 1764 and again in 1765?
What arguments did they use? Why did these conflicts over specific policies turn into a constitutional crisis? What was the core constitutional principles over which the colonists and the ministers in parliament disagreed?
Read: Chapter 5 – The Road to Independence 1771 -1776 pages 151 -166 and Chapter 6 – pages
169 – 177.
Week 12 Nov. 9th Path to Victory/The Westward Movement and the Jeffersonian Revolution

Key Questions: Why did the Patriot movement wane in the early 1770s? Why did the Tea Act reignite colonial resistance? Why were British forces militarily superior to American forces in the first years of the war? How did the Americans sustain the Revolution between 1776 and
1778? What were the most important economic and fiscal problems facing the Patriots at the outset of the war? How successful were they in addressing them?
Read: Chapter 6 – Path of Victory, 1778 – 1783 pages 177 – 194 Chapter 7 - The Westward
Movement and the Jeffersonian Revolution pages 213 – 222
Week 13 Nov. 16th The War of 1812, Transformation of Politics,
North and South Grow Apart/Introduce topics for Second Source Analysis Essay
Key Questions: Why did Britain switch to a southern military strategy? Why did that strategy ultimately fail? How did the French alliance ensure the success of the American rebellion? What were the main differences between conservative state constitutions, like that of Massachusetts, and more-democratic constitutions, like Pennsylvania’s? Why did the Western Indian
Confederacy fail to limit white settlement west of the Appalachians? How did Jeffersonian policy encourage expansion westward? Why did Jefferson and other expansionists believe the
West was crucial to the well-being of the republic?
Read: Chapter 7 - The War of 1812 and the Transformation of Politics pages 222 – 233, Chapter
8 - The North and South Grow Apart pages 254 – 256, Missouri Crisis 1819 – 1821 page 257,
The Second Great Awakening pages 259 – 265
Week 14 & 15 Nov. 23 rd Economic Transformation 1820 – 1860
Key Questions: What were the causes of the War of 1812? Where did Republicans and
Federalists stand on declaring and then fighting the war? What regional tensions did the war expose? What compromises over slavery did the members of Congress make to settle the
Missouri crisis? How did the compromises over slavery in 1820-1821 compare with those made by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787? How did republicanism affect the organization, values, and popularity of American churches?
Read: Part Three Economic Revolution and Sectional Strife pages 268 -269, Chapter 9 pages
271 – 283, Railroads and Regional Ties page 285 -288
Week 16 Dec. 7th Religion and Reform and the Jacksonian
Presidency
Key Questions: How did American textile manufacturers compete with British manufactures?
How successful were they? In what ways did the emerging industrial economy conflict with artisan republicanism? What roles did government – state and national play in the development of America’s transportation networks?
Read: Chapter 10 The Jacksonian Presidency pages 308 – 318, Chapter 11 Individualism pages
331-335, Rural Communalism – Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers pages 336 – 338, Joseph Smith and the Mormon Experience pages341 -343, William Lloyd Garrison and the American Anti -
Slavery Society pages 351 – 354
We17 Dec. 14 th The South Expands: Slavery and Society 1820
Key Questions: Why were Andrew Jackson’s policies on banking and tariffs? How did they evolve? Do you think those policies helped or hurt the American economy? Why? Why did
Jackson support Indian removal? Did removal help to preserve, or to destroy, Native American

culture? What were the main beliefs of transcendentalism? How was transcendentalism an expression of the social changes sweeping nineteenth-century society? What were the origins of the abolitionist movement? How did the abolitionists’ proposals and methods differ from those of earlier antislavery movements (see chapter 8)? Why did those proposals and methods arouse such hostility in the South and in the North?
Read: Chapter 12 Creating Cotton South pages 363 -374, Chapter 12 – Slave Society and
Culture pages 380 – 383, Chapter 13 The Crisis of the Union 1844 – 1846 and Manifest Destiny pages 391 – 398
Week 18 Jan 4th War, Expansion, and Slavery 1846 – 1850, The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Rise of the New Parties and Lincoln’s Political Career
Key Questions: Why in 1860 did the South remain committed to the institution of slavery and its expansion? How would you explain the large and expanding domestic trade in slaves between
1800 and 1860? What combination of factors produced this result? Based on what you’ve learned so far, compare and contrast society in the American South with that of the North. Is it fair to say that by 1860, America was, in fact, two distinct societies?
Read: Chapter 13 War, Expansion, and Slavery 1846 -1850 pages 398 – 409, The Kansas-
Nebraska Act and the Rise of New Parties pages 409-410, Lincoln’s Political Career pages 415 -
419, chapter 14 page 423 – 428, and the primary sources listed below:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments (1848)

Catherine Beecher, from A Treatise on Domestic Economy
 Sojourner Truth, Address to the Women’s Rights Convention

William Lloyd Garrison, first issue of The Liberator

Mathew Carey, Rules for Husbands and Wives (1830)
 James K. Polk’s First Inaugural Address

Senate Report on the Railroads (1852)
Week 19 Jan 11th Primary Source Readings
Key Questions: Why did President Polk go to war with Mexico? Why did the war become so divisive in Congress? What issues were resolved by the Compromise of 1850? Who benefited more from its terms, the North or the South? Why? What did Stephen Douglas try to accomplish with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854? What were the main constitutional arguments advanced during the debate over slavery in the territories? Which of those arguments influenced Chief
Justice Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott?
FINAL EXAM
Read: The primary sources listed below:

Abraham Lincoln, A House Divided (1858)

Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (1861)

Frederick Douglass, Independence Day Speech (1852)
 Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) – download on your Nook.
 John Brown’s Address Before Sentencing (Nob 2, 1859)

The Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

South Carolina Declaration of the Causes of Secession (Dec 24, 1860)


The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

The Gettysburg Address (1863)
Week 20 Jan. 19 th : PowerPoint Presentations
Instructions to follow.
Due dates:
Paper #1: Sep. 21 & 22
Paper #2: Oct 26 & 27
Paper #3: Dec 7 & 8
Final Exam: Jan 11 & 12
PowerPoint presentation: Jan 13 & 14