HIS 231

HIS 231: UNITED STATES HISTORY TO 1877

North Island College, Fall 2007

Meeting Times: Mon., Wed. 1:00 p.m.-2:20 pm

Meeting Place: DIS 218

Instructor: Dan Hinman-Smith

Office: Village G6

Office Hours: Mon. 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Thurs. 2:00-3:30 p.m. (or by appointment)

Office Phone: 334-5000, Extension 4024

Home Phone: 703-0673 (Do not hesitate to call with course-related questions)

Web-Site: http://www.misterdann.com/

E-Mail: dhinman@telus.net

CLASS SCHEDULE

WEEK1

Wednesday, September 5

a) Introduction

b) Video: "Pocahontas Revealed"

WEEK 2

Monday, September 10

a) Discussion: Kennewick Man

b) Discussion: "Indians In The Land" and "
Asians"

c) Before The Europeans

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Kennewick Man Discussion Topic.

"Indians In The Land: A Conversation Between William Cronon and Richard White," American Heritage , 37(August/ September 1986): 18-25.
Richard Rodriguez, "Asians," Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father (New York: Viking, 1992): 158-174.

Wednesday, September 12

a) Discussion: The Devil In The Shape Of A Woman -- Witches And Historians

a) Video: "Secrets Of The Dead: The Witches' Curse"

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Devil In The Shape Of A Shape Of A Woman Discussion Topic.

WEEK 3

Monday, September 17

a) Discussion: Jamestown

a) Citie Upon The Hill And The Tobacco Colony: Comparing Massachusetts And Virginia

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Jamestown Discussion Topic.

Wednesday, September 19

a) A Colonial Mosaic

b) Video: "Unearthing The Slave Trade"

WEEK 4

Monday, September 24

a) The Chesapeake And Massachusetts

Wednesday, September 26

a) Discussion: 1776 And All That

b) Video: "Liberty!: The Reluctant Revolutionaries"

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in 1776 And All That Discussion Topic.

WEEK 5

Monday, October 1

a) Monument Project: Mini-Presentations and Discussion

For an electronic version of the assignment form, click HERE.
For some useful links to help you with this assignment, click HERE.

Wednesday, October 3

WEEK 6

Monday, October 8

No Class: Thanksgiving

Wednesday, October 10

a) A More Perfect Union?: The U.S. Constitution

b) Video: "North Vs. South In The Founding Of The U.S."

WEEK 7

Monday, October 15

a) U.S. Constitution

b) Bill of Rights Analysis

c) West Video Clips

***FIRST HALF PORTFOLIO DUE***

Wednesday, October 17

a) World Turned Upside Down?: The American Revolution As A Social Movement

WEEK 8

Monday, October 22

a) Discussion: American Political Prints, 1766-1876

b) DeTocqueville's America

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in American Political Prints, 1766-1876 Discussion Topic.

James R. Chiles, "Congress Couldn't Have Been This Bad, Or Could It?," Smithsonian (November 1995): 70-82.

Wednesday, October 24

a) Video: "Roots Of Resistance"

b) Discussion: Lewis And Clark

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Lewis And Clark Discussion Topic.

WEEK 9

Monday, October 29

a) "When The Eagle Screamed"" An Overview Of Westward Expansion, 1803-1850

Wednesday, October 31

a) Discussion: WPA Ex-Slave Interview Project

b) Discussion: Slave Reparations

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Slave Reparations Discussion Topic.

Mike Mattison, "Past Due: Can Reparations Pay For The Pain Of Slavery?," Utne Reader (January-February 1994): 25-28.

WEEK 10

Monday, November 5

a) Discussion: "Secret Life Of A Developing Country"

b) "Be Ye Therefore Perfect Even As Your Father In Heaven Is Perfect": The Reforming Impulse

Reading Assignment:

Jack Larkin, "The Secret Life Of A Developing Country (Ours)," American Heritage , 39 (September/ October 1988): 44-68.

Wednesday, November 7

a) Video: "John Brown's Body"

WEEK 11

Monday, November 12

No Class: Remembrance Day

Wednesday, November 14

a) Discussion: Coming Of The Civil War

b) The Impending Crisis: The Coming Of The Civil War, 1848-1861

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Coming Of The Civil War Discussion Topic.

WEEK 12

Monday, November 19

a) Discussion: Civil War

b) Video: "The Civil War"

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Civil War Discussion Topic.

Wednesday, November 21

a) Video: "Reconstruction -- The Second Civil War"

WEEK 13

Monday, November 26

a) "A House Divided": The Civil War, 1861-1865

b) Whose Reconstruction?

Wednesday, November 28

a) Discussion: Confederates In The Attic

b) Discussion: Harper's Reconstruction

Reading Assignment:

Browse extensively in Harper's Reconstruction Discussion Topic.

WEEK 14

Monday, December 3

a) "The Mystic Chords Of Memory": The American Revolution, The Civil War Era And The American Historical Imagination

Wednesday, December 5

a) Final Exam Review

**SECOND HALF PORTFOLIO DUE

WEEK 15: FINAL EXAM: Date and Time TBA.

BOOKS

David Goldfield et al., American Journey: A History of the United States

Tony Horwitz, Confederates In The Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War (New York: Vintage, 1998).

EVALUATION

Letter of Introduction 1%

First Half Portfolio 30%

Second Half Portfolio 30%

Class Participation 19%

Final Exam 20%

a) Letter of Introduction (1%)

Who are you? Where are you from? What are your interests? Why are you taking this course? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as we start the course? Write two or three informal paragraphs for the second class of the semester to introduce yourself to me.

b) First Half Portfolio (30%)

c) Second Half Portfolio (30 %)

d) Final Exam (20%)

e) Class Participation (19%)