U.S. History: Young America | Master Course Outlines | Academics

HIST151 U.S. History: Young America

3 credits

2250

None

This course meets the General Education requirement for Arts/Humanities.
This course meets the General Education requirement for Diversity.
This course meets the General Education requirement for Critical Thinking.

This course explores U.S. history from European colonization until the end of the Civil War. Students critically examine the social, cultural, economic, and political dynamics of America's agrarian age.

Course Learning Goals

Students will:
1. demonstrate an understanding of U.S. history, and the relationships and conflicts between the diverse peoples of North America, from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War [Diversity];
2. critically analyze and evaluate competing points of view and voices in early American history [Critical Thinking];
3. demonstrate an understanding of the social and political systems, economies, and cultures of the various African, European, and Native American societies, from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War [Arts/Humanities];
4. identify the major reasons for the start and later victory of the American Revolution;
5. describe the rise of the United States as a nation domestically and internationally during the Antebellum Period;
6. demonstrate an understanding of the reasons for and process of American expansion during the Antebellum Period and its impact on American society, culture, and politics; and
7. identify the causes and course of the American Civil War.
Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities
1. three worlds collide
2. the colonization of North America
3. the evolution of slavery
4. the maturation of colonial Anglo-American society
5. international war and the American Revolution
6. competing visions for the new nation
7. race and class and the early republic
8. the northwest and old northwest
9. the slave system and the south
10. reform in the Antebellum age (immigration, gender roles, abolition)
11. moving west (the debate over Manifest Destiny)
12. the Mexican-American War
13. causes of the Civil War
14. course of the Civil War
Assessment Methods for Course Learning Goals
Course learning goals are assessed with exams, essays, written assignments, multi-media projects, and/or participation in classroom/online discussions.
Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Student:
See course syllabus.