Central Ohio Technical College/North Union High School
Division of Arts and Sciences
Autumn 2013
19 August 2014-15 January 2015
Class Syllabus
Course Title:
U.S. History I: To 1877
Course Number:
HIST 150
Instructor:
Michael Adams
Office: Room 204 NUHS
Office Phone: (740) 943-3012 ext. 1842
Cell Phone: (614) 205-2603
E-mail: madams@nu-district.org
Prerequisite:
Instructor Permission
Course Description:
Dual Credit U.S. History I is a chronological survey of U.S. History from Colonization to the end of
Reconstruction. Students will participate in an in-depth study of U.S. History focusing on the formation of the
American identity of the colonies, slavery as an institution, emerging American nationalism, 19th century reform
movements, industrialization, continental expansionism, sectionalism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.
Students will be required to assess historical materials and their relevance, reliability, and importance.
Emphasis will be placed on examining historiographical interpretations of U.S. history as well as research,
writing, and critical thinking skills. Extensive reading and writing is required.
Required Materials:
Textbooks:
Kennedy, David M., Cohen, Lizabeth, and Bailey, Thomas A. The American Pageant: A History of the
Republic, Thirteenth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
McDougal-Littell Writing for Social Studies. Evanston, Illinois: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1998.
Supplemental Readings:
Leckie, Robert: From Sea to Shining Sea: From the War of 1812 to the Mexican-American War, the Saga of
America's Expansion. New York: Harper, 1994.
McCullough, David G. 1776. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.
McPherson, James M. For Cause and Comrades. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Poyer, Paul S. The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Tindall, George Brown. America: A Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1988.
Various other primary and secondary sources
General Class Policies
1. Class Participation: It is expected that you will participate actively in all class sessions in a manner that
shows prior preparation through readings and other assignments. A failure to participate will affect your
final grade.
2. Late Work: Late assignments are unacceptable and will not be accepted unless, because of extenuating
circumstances, prior arrangements have been made. Assignment deadlines are firm even when you are
absent.
3. Behavior Expectations: Mature, respectful, adult behavior is expected in the classroom.
4. Class Assignments, Projects, Tests/Exams:
 It is expected that all assignments and tests/examinations will be completed as scheduled unless there
are clearly extenuating circumstances.
 All assignments, unless specifically excluded, are to be typed or completed using a word processor.
 All assignments are to be appropriately documented as to use of quoted or paraphrased materials.
Chicago style of writing will be used, as it is the preferred style within the profession of history.
5. Academic Integrity: Students are expected to turn in original work. Plagiarism, in any form, will result in an
“F” on that assignment. Repeated plagiarism will result in an “F” in the course. Please read the COTC
plagiarism policy at: http://www.cotc.edu/student-life/Documents/Handbook.pdf.
6. Use of College Level Writing & Speaking Skills: Students are expected to use college-level writing skills in
all typed and hand written assignments. Students are expected to use Standard English when speaking.
7. Electronic Devices (cell phones, pagers, iPods, MP3 players, palm pilots, headphones, games, etc.) :
 Cell Phones must be turned off while class is in session. Taking calls during class should only occur in
emergency situations, by permission of the instructor prior to class.
 No text messaging.
 Laptops are permitted for note taking only.
Assessment:
Class Assignments:
 Semi-weekly ID Quizzes (10 x 30 points=
300 points)
 Unit Exams (3 x 100 points= 300 points)
 Book Review (1 x 100 points)
 Projects: Colony PowerPoint Presentations,
Research Project, Glory: Hollywood v.
History Essay (3 x 50 points- 150 points)
 DBQ Essays (3 x 50 points- 150 points)
TOTAL POINTS: 1000
Student Evaluation Criteria Statement:
 A: 900 points or above
 B: 800-899 points
 C: 700-799 points
 D: 600-699 points
 F: 599 points and under
Class Schedule:
Week of:
August 21-23
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August 26-September 6
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Lecture Topics
European Colonization in
Africa, Asia, and America
Columbian Exchange
Plymouth and Jamestown
Massachusetts Bay v.
Chesapeake Bay Colonies
Social and Economic
Structure in the 17th
Century Colonies
Great Awakening
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Assignments
Chapter 1 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 2-5 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 1-3 ID Quiz
Colony PowerPoints
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Reading
Kennedy, Chapter 1
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
Kennedy, Chapter 2-3
Kennedy, Chapter 4-5
Week of:
September 9-13
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September 15-19
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September 22-26
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Colonial/Revolutionary
War Research Projects
and Presentations
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Articles of Confederation
Constitution Convention
Ratification Issues
Washington and Adams
Administration
September 29-October 3
October 6-10
October 13-16
Lecture Topics
Causes, Conduct, and
Results of the French and
Indian War
Causes and Conduct of
the American Revolution
Results of the American
Revolution
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October 20-24
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Revolution of 1800
Jefferson Administration
October 27-November 1
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November 3-8
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Causes, Conduct, and
Results of the War of 1812
American Nationalism
Jackson Mass Democracy
The American System
November 10-15
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November 17-22
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December 1-5
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December 8-13
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November 24-25
December 15-19
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Mid-18th Century Social
Movements
Manifest Destiny
Causes, Conduct, and
Results of the MexicanAmerican War
Sectionalism
Compromise of 1850
Bloody Kansas
Causes, Conduct, and
Results of the Civil War
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Presidential v.
Congressional
Reconstruction
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Consequences of the Civil
War and Reconstruction
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January 5-9
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January 12-15
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Watch Glory and Parts of
Gettysburg
Finals Week
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Assignments
Chapter 6 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 4-6 ID Quiz
Chapter 7-8 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 7-8 ID Quiz
Unit 1 Exam
DBQ #2
War Research Projects
and Presentations

Reading
Kennedy, Chapter 6
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Kennedy, Chapter 7-8
McCulloch. Chapter 1-2
Review for Exam

Research Topics
Chapter 9 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 9 ID Quiz
Federalist, Anti-Federalist
Broadsheets
Chapter 10 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 11 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 10-11 ID Quiz
Chapter 12 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 12-13 ID Quiz
Chapter 13-14 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 14-15 ID Quiz
Chapter 15 Discussion
Questions
Unit 2 Exam
DBQ #4
Chapter 18-19 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 16-17 ID Quiz
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Kennedy, Chapter 9
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Kennedy, Chapter 10
Federalist, Anti-Federalist
Papers
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Kennedy, Chapter 11
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Kennedy, Chapter 12
Leckie, Selections from
Part III
Kennedy, Chapter 13-14
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Kennedy, Chapter 15
Review for Exam

Kennedy, Chapter 18-19
Chapter 20 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 18-19 ID Quiz
Chapter 21 Discussion
Questions
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
Kennedy, Chapter 20
For Cause and Comrade,
Chapter 1-6
Kennedy, Chapter 21
For Cause and Comrade,
Chapter 7-12
Chapter 22 Discussion
Questions
Chapter 20-22 ID Quiz

Kennedy, Chapter 22
For Cause and Comrade
Book Review
DBQ #6
Unit 3 Exam
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Review for Exam
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Finals Week
Glory: Hollywood v.
History Essay
Finals Week
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Note: This is a tentative schedule and subject to change as the need arises. Additional assignments may be given based
on class progress.
Course Competencies and Corresponding Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
1.00 Analyze primary and secondary sources (i.e. historical analysis of text).
1.01 Define “primary source” and “secondary source.”
1.02 Provide examples of primary and secondary sources.
1.03 Identify component parts of documents (provenance, date, context, purpose, point of view,
audience, importance, and evidence)
1.04 Summarize authors’ arguments.
1.05 Evaluate the persuasiveness and impact of documents, based on structure, evidence,
authority, and reception by various audiences.
2.00 Explain the cause, effect, and relevance of specific historical events and/or periods within the
broader historical context.
2.01 Describe the American and African continents prior to the arrival of Europeans, with special
focus on populations and their identifying characteristics (e.g., worldviews and social and
political structures) and their vulnerabilities to invasion.
2.02 Explain the political, economic, and cultural contexts of and reasons for European
explorations of the African coast and of the Western Hemisphere.
2.03 Explain the causes and effects of European colonization of North America, including
religious/ideological, political, and economic motivations and human, social, and ecological
impacts.
2.04 Compare the relative importance of commercial activity to the development and dispersal
of ideas in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
2.05 Evaluate the causes and significance of the Great Awakening and of the Seven Years’
War, especially their relationships to the development of revolutionary ideology.
2.06 Compare the American Revolution as social movement to the Revolution as a political and
ideological movement.
2.07 Contrast the economic, social, and political positions of various groups prior to and after the
Revolution.
2.08 Explain the social and political causes for and consequences of the development and
ratification of the Constitution, including practical effects for state governments.
2.09 Relate early national social and political attitudes to westward expansion.
2.10 Explain the causes and effects of Native American tribal removal efforts.
2.11 Evaluate the success of the Monroe Doctrine.
2.12 Explain the causes and effects of economic development in the early national period.
2.13 Assess the causes of the expansion of slavery after 1790, particularly in the southern
United States.
2.14 Describe the lives of slaves, the ways in which they resisted slavery, and the methods by
which slaves won their freedom.
2.15 Relate religious revival to various antebellum reform movements, including women’s rights
and abolitionism.
2.16 Relate territorial expansion to political polarization over the issue of slavery in the run up to
the Civil War.
2.17 Analyze the causes of the Civil War and the reasons for the Union’s victory.
2.18 Distinguish among approaches to Reconstruction.
2.19 Evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of Reconstruction and its relative success or
failure.
3.00 Evaluate diverse historical interpretations.
3.01 Define “historical argument,” “historical interpretation,” and “historiography.”
3.02 Critique interpretations of European motivations for exploration and colonization.
3.03 Assess the historiography on the origins of “New World” slavery.
3.04 Evaluate interpretations of ecological and pathological impacts of European settlement of
North America.
3.05 Critique arguments on the origins and impact of the Great Awakening.
3.06 Contrast interpretations of the American Revolution as conservative and progressive.
3.07 Evaluate the historiography of gender, race, and class in early American and antebellum
history.
3.08 Evaluate interpretations of the origins, development, and ratification of the Constitution.
3.09 Compare arguments on early national civic virtue and self-interest.
3.10 Critique interpretations of early national foreign policy and diplomacy.
3.11 Evaluate historical arguments on the economics and social and personal impacts of
slavery.
3.12 Defend various interpretations of the value of antebellum reform movements, including
those for abolition and women’s rights.
3.13 Distinguish among interpretations of the causes of the American Civil War.
3.14 Evaluate interpretations regarding the success of Reconstruction.
4.00 Demonstrate the ability to understand and apply basic historical concepts, methodologies, and
approaches.
4.01 Define elements of source criticism, including reliability, credibility, independence, bias,
tendency, authenticity, provenance, and authority.
4.02 Analyze primary and secondary sources using historical method.
4.03 Describe historical methodologies and approaches, including cliometrics, prosopography,
quantitative, comparative, Marxist, oral, public, and social.
4.04 Interpret documents within a particular historical framework or frameworks.
5.00 Articulate historical arguments in a variety of forms of communication.
5.01 Evaluate historical topics, making use of primary and secondary sources.
5.02 Construct a written historical argument.
5.03 Defend publicly the results of historical investigation and argument.
5.04 Critique the historical arguments presented by others.