Course Title: U.S. History I
Campus Course Code: HIST 2313
Campus: UT Pan American
Program: GenEd
Course Description
This is a course in United States history from the time of European colonization in North America during late Fifteenth Century to the Reconstruction period of the United States during the 1870s.
This is a “hands-on” course that is designed for the student to develop a solid foundational knowledge of American history. The “online” nature of this course will actually help facilitate the attainment of this goal. Students will need a word-processing program that saves documents as a webpage and in “Rich Text Format.” Microsoft Word is highly recommended although any program that saves documents in “Rich Text Format” and as a webpage is fine Microsoft Word can be obtained for a low price at your UT campus bookstore.
Students should feel confident in performing the following tasks for this online course: navigating and conducting research on the Web, sending and receiving e-mail, operating a word-processing program and saving documents in “Rich Text Format.”
The course is divided into three units. Each unit is composed of two assignments. The first unit assignment is the “Hikipedia Assignment” which consists of posting a series of replies to unit questions and to other student’s responses. The second is called the “Cause and Effect Assignment” and you will be required to delineate the various causes and effects of historical events. You will be using both the course textbook and the Internet as sources for your research. There are two exams, the Mid-Term and the Final.
Course Goals
- Distinguish and analyze different types of historical evidence and differing historical points of view;
- Recognize and apply reasonable criteria for the acceptability of historical evidence;
- Read and interpret historical texts (primary and secondary), critically and synthesize them for written and online discussion;
- Analyze social, political, economic, cultural, and diplomatic impact on the area under study;
- Understand the roles of choice and of cause and effect in history; and
- Assess the use and the potential misuse of historical analogies in contemporary situations.
The attainment of these goals will be manifestly demonstrated by the student in online interactions and completion of the course assignments and tests.
The following are the ten historical units that you will be required to complete your assignments on:
- European (and particularly English) Colonization in the New World
- The American Revolution
- The Early Republic and Creation of the U. S. Constitution
- The Age of Jefferson
- The Age of Jackson
- The First Industrial Revolution in the United States
- Manifest Destiny & the Mexican War
- Prelude to the Civil War (the slavery issue, sectionalism, economic differences, etc.)
- The War Between the States
- Reconstruction
Materials
Visit the Bookstores page for links to campus bookstores that provide information on course materials.
Credits:3
Level:Undergraduate
Faculty
Ned Wallace
ewallace@panam.edu
956-318-5366