REQUIRED READINGS:
Acuña, Rodolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 5th ed. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2004 (This book will also be used next semester in History 164: please do not sell it at the end of the semester).

Jones, Jacqueline, Peter H. Wood, Thomas Borstelmann, Elaine Tyler May, Vicki L. Ruiz. Created Equal: A Social and Political History of the United States, Brief Edition, V. 1. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2005.

Klooster, Wim and Alfred Padula. The Atlantic World: Essays on Slavery, Migration, and
Immigration. Pearson-Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle, New Jersey, 2005.

All readings are on reserve in the Newton Gresham Library on campus. Reading materials may be found at the Kampus Korner or Bookland bookstores in Huntsville. Readings may also be purchased at the university bookstore.

COURSE OBJECTIVE:
This course introduces undergraduate students to United States history from the nation’s origins to the period of Reconstruction. History 163 is designed to acquaint students with important events in early United States history, events that shaped the lives of all Americans—poor and rich, Southerners and Northerners, immigrants and creoles, slaves and free-born persons, men and women, the young and old, Catholics and Protestants, Christians and non-Christians, and Blacks, Whites, Browns, Native American, and East Asians. The course is structured to give students a gainful understanding, factual depiction, and knowledgeable appreciation of American life before 1877. The following topics are discussed this semester:
Three Worlds Collide: America, Europe, and Africa
The Peopling and Unpeopling of North America: The Columbian Exchange
The Middle Passage and African Diaspora
European Colonies in the Atlantic World: Colonial Expansion in the Americas
British North America
Toward an Independence Spirit
Revolution and Independence
The New Political and Social Order
Toward a Continental Nation: The Louisiana Purchase and War of 1812
Toward a Capitalist-Protestant Republic: Politics and the Second Great Awakening
First Industrial Revolution
The Jacksonian Revolution and the Emergence of the Two-Party System
The Age of Reform and Reformers
The Slave South, Slavery, and Slaves
Westward Expansion: The Texas Revolution, the Mexican War, Manifest Destiny
The Impending Crisis: Roots of War and Crisis
The “Splendid Civil War”
Reconstruction

The lectures are divided into two parts. Part One, The Making of a Nation, chronicles American society through the Revolutionary War. Several events signaled the dawn of the United States. The first Americans migrated to the Western Hemisphere at the time of the last Ice Age, which took place between 30,000 B.C. and 12,000 B.C. For the next 400 generations they lived in isolation from the rest of the world until the arrival of Europeans and Africans centuries later. At the time of the Renaissance and Reformation (14th and 15th centuries), Portuguese and Dutch merchants penetrated the Muslim-dominated Mediterranean Sea for gold, ivory, spices, and of course, slaves. In time they created new trading routes and replaced Muslims as the world’s leaders in commerce and trade, including the selling of African slaves. Spain followed suite and commissioned a Genoese sea captain to uncover a new route to China. Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, for China, but instead landed on one of the present-day Bahamas Islands two months later on October 12, 1492. Regardless of his initial intentions, the sailor embarked upon a new find for the western world, one that would alter the course of the human race forever. In time, Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English settled in the Atlantic World. At their side were imported African slaves, brought over as artisans and farmers. Soon these immigrants from Europe and Africa would replace the first Americans as the dominant populous in the Western Hemisphere. In time the world would witness the emergence of British North America; and in time, British North America would become the United States of America. Part two, The United States of America, traces American life in the U.S. since the Revolutionary War. During this period the United States underwent profound changes as a result of territorial acquisitions, innovations in transportation, continued immigration from Europe, manufacturing growth, the expansion of plantation slavery, the creation of a two-party political system, and decisive military victories. As the USA blossomed politically, economically, militarily, socially, and culturally into a self-sufficient and self-determined nation, the single most important development that paved the way for its greatness—plantation slavery—pushed the Republic into a regrettable, tragic, and triumphant Civil War.

ABSENCE POLICY:
College policy stresses that instructors may penalize students for excessive absences totaling four or more class hours. Students who have these kinds of excessive absences will be penalized severely in the class this semester. Specifically, I will penalize those students with six or more unexcused absences: five points will be deducted from students’ final grade at the end of the semester. If you have special problems, please contact the instructor immediately. Attendance will be taken daily. Please make an effort to be in class on time.

OBSERVANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY:
The Texas Education Code (Section 51.911[b]) along with Sam Houston State University policy (University Policy 851001) must recognize the mandatory observance of religious holy days for students. The university must permit students to celebrate religious holy days, including travel for the same purpose. Please notify the instructor in writing within the first fifteen days of class of any observed religious holidays during the course of the semester. The instructor will not only excuse absences resulting from religious holiday observances, but will also allow students to make up examinations and assignments. Finally, the professor will fill out a form alerting students of revised deadlines for the completion of missed exams and assignments.

POLICY REGARDING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Students with disabilities cannot be denied the benefits of other students or suffer from discrimination by any academic or student life activity or program on the basis of their handicap. Disabled students are encouraged to seek assistance with academic matters and concerns from their professors, individual department or division heads, or by contacting the Chairperson of the Committee for Continuing Assistance for Disabled Students and Director of the Counseling Center in the Lee Drain Annex, (936) 294-1720.

CLASS DECORUM:
Students are seriously advised to adhere to appropriate classroom decorum. Please refrain from using cellular phones during the duration of the class. Again, phones must be turned off. Ringing phones and pagers too easily distracts both instructors and students. Furthermore, students are asked to abstain from the use of hand-held electronic devices such as video games and portable compact-disc players during the class hour. Also discontinue inappropriate behavior during the lecture period—loud talking, the use of profanity, lewd behavior, eating, excessive laughter, and discussions during the instructor’s lecture and without her permission. This also goes for napping or sleeping in class. This behavior is inappropriate. Lastly, students must refrain from walking out of class before the end of the lecture hour (without the instructor’s consent), coming to class excessively tardy, and taking a restroom-break during an examination. If students leave class for any reason during an exam, the instructor will assume that the student is cheating and will give the student a zero for the assigned test. If you must use the restroom, please do it before class begins; on exam days, please use the restroom before beginning the examinations. If students do not adhere to these requests, they will be asked to leave; and if this behavior continues, ten points will be deducted from the final grade average at the end of the semester. Please, please respect the classroom, instructor, and your classmates. This is unquestionably required of all students this semester in this History 163 class.

LECTURES AND CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Class lectures will come from the assigned topics in the course calendar. Students are responsible for all assigned readings and must stay abreast with lectures and discussions. All reading is required. Students are also expected to take exemplary lecture notes on the lecture topics—at least three to five pages per lecture day. Students are equally expected to participate fully in classroom discussions and debates. The class will discuss current events as each relates to various topics.

BONUS CREDIT:
In addition to the above assignments, students are expected to earn bonus points at the end of the semester. The bonus credit assignments vary and will be generally worth 1 to 25 points depending on each suggested project and will be added to the final examination grade. This assignment is twofold: it is designed to peak students’ curiosity and interest in United States history and at the same time boost individuals’ cumulative points for the semester. Students can earn points a number of ways—by completing the Sam Houston State University Academic and Mentoring Center (SAM Center) Study Skills Session; voting in the upcoming presidential election; touring museums; journaling; writing synopses on historical documentaries, historic films, and television specials; doing community service projects; and participating in other interesting projects pertaining to history. Students will earn a total of 25 bonus points for the entire semester. Again, all bonus-point assignments are due at the end of the semester on the day of the final examination. Please see the following assignments and bonus-point totals:
SAM Mentoring Center Study Skills Session 10 Points Total
Voting in the Presidential Election (Analysis of election results, 3-5 pp) 25 Points Total
Community Service and Volunteering (40 hrs. monthly; 3-5 pp summary) 25 Points Total
Volunteering at the Huntsville Head Start Center (40 hrs. monthly & sum.) 25 Points Total
Journaling of Daily Activities at home, work & school (1 typed page each) 25 Points Total
Museum Tours (Three; Typed synopsis on each, 2-3 pages) 25 Points Total
Cross-Cultural Exchanges (Three; Typed synopsis on each, 2-3 pages) 25 Points Total
Analyses of historical docudramas (2-3 page synopses, one point each) 25 Points Total
Random Trivia on Classroom Lectures and Discussions (1-2 pts. each) 25 Points Total

TESTS:
Three multiple choice examinations will be given this semester. Each question (50) is worth two points, totaling 100 points for the entire exam. Only in cases of emergencies will make-ups be allowed for students, and only on the day of the final exam immediately following the final. It is therefore imperative that students take exams on the scheduled dates. The information on all tests will come from both the lectures/lecture outlines and assigned readings. Students will receive on Blackboard a complete study guide for the exams. Exams are worth 20 percent of the final grade.

FINAL EXAMINATION:
The final will consist of the same format as the previous exams—multiple-choice questions. The final examination will cover the final chapters in Created Equal, and select sections in Occupied America. The final exam will be given on the following date and times: (1)Section 6 (11-11:50 PM MWF Class) Wednesday, December 15, 11 AM to 1 PM; (2)Section 16 (12:30-2 PM TTH Class) Tuesday, December 14, 11 AM to 1 PM); (3)Section 18 (10-10:50 AM, MWF Honors Class) Monday, December 13, 11 AM to 1 PM. Exam dates are subject to change depending on subsequent university adjustments to the final exam schedule at the end of the semester. Again, make-ups will only be allowed in extreme cases. The final examination is worth 20 percent of the final grade.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL ABSTRACT
Students are expected to formulate an annotated bibliography on a particular aspect of early United States history. An annotated bibliography includes at least three sentences (up to a paragraph) explaining the thesis or main objective of each work. Please feel free to use the selected bibliographies at the end of each chapter in the required texts for suggested books and articles. These selected bibliographies will help you tremendously. The selected annotated bibliography must include at least five primary sources and twenty secondary source materials. Primary and secondary sources must relate to the selected topic at hand—some aspect of early U.S. history to Reconstruction. Suggested secondary sources include books and articles on a specified topic such as Civil War battles, Reconstruction, Louisiana Purchase, Aztec Indians, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, slavery, Tejanos, Caddo Indians, or etc.; and primary source documents include but are not limited to church records, probate records, tax receipts, slave records, slave bills of sale, family histories written in Bibles, obituaries, newspapers and popular magazines dating back to the time period being studied), manuscript collections, government documents, diaries, war records, and etc. We will discuss this further in class. After completing the annotated bibliography, select one of the primary sources in the annotated bibliography and write a 3-5 page essay on that particular source. Please explain why this source is important in early Untied States history. Also explain why you selected this particular source. What makes this source a special one in your eyes? I would love for students to do genealogical studies on their families, going back several centuries. If students, however, cannot find sources that discuss their families in detail going back to at least the period of Reconstruction, they are encouraged to write on broad historical topics. I have listed specific dates on the course calendar for students to turn in particular assignments relating to the project and hand. These assignments, including an outline and bibliography of the larger annotated bibliography, are designed to guide students along the way during this exciting adventure in U.S. history. Students are especially encouraged to utilize the Newton Gresham Library’s Thomason Room and University Archives, which are both located on the fourth floor of the library. The Thomason Room and University Archives are archival reading rooms that hold material pertinent to the settling, founding, and history of Walker County, Huntsville, the university, and Texas, especially East Texas. The Thomason reading room is opened to the public on Mondays through Fridays, 1 to 5 PM; the university archival reading room is opened to the public from 8 AM to 5 PM, Mondays through Fridays. See the course calendar for particular due dates for all assignments pertaining to this project. If this is your first time doing a research assignment of this magnitude, please do not fret: I will assist you as a teacher and mentor. I want students to leave this class with a better love and appreciation for history—including their family histories—and improved analytical, research, and writing skills. Perhaps this assignment will encourage students to select history as a major. I will place various materials on Blackboard as the semester progresses for the class’ benefit—materials on writing bibliographies and footnotes/endnotes. This assignment is also worth 100 points and is 20 percent of the final grade. Please heed to this warning: plagiarism is unacceptable. I do not expect for you to write a sentence or two word for word verbatim from the sources you utilize. Again, this is unacceptable. Rather, paraphrase the ideas given in abstracts, introductions, prefaces, summaries, conclusions, book reviews, and short synopses located along book flaps and on the back of book covers. Anything else is illegal and cause for an automatic F on the assignment.

FINAL GRADE
Students can earn a total number of four hundred points this semester:
Examination One 100 Points –
Examination Two 100 Points –
Examination Three 100 Points –
Research Project 100 Points—November 29 & 30
Final Examination 100 Points –Section 6, Wednesday, December 15, 11 AM to 1 PM
Section 16, Tuesday, December 14, 11 AM to 1 PM
Section 18, Monday, December 13, 11 AM to 1 PM
Total Points for the semester: 500

GRADING SCALE:
The grading scale is for all exams:
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
Below 60 F

Course Calendar
History 163 - United States History to Reconstruction, Fall Semester 2004
Sections 6, 16, and 18 Sam Houston State University
Bernadette Pruitt, Ph.D.

PART ONE: THE MAKING OF A NATION
Major Topics of Discussion and Interest for Exams One & Two:
Three Worlds Collide: America, Europe, and Africa
The Peopling and Unpeopling of North America
The Middle Passage and African Diaspora
European Colonies in the Atlantic World
British North America
Toward an Independence Spirit

August 25-27 Introduction to the Course/Explanation of the Syllabus

August 30 Sections 18 and 6: Introduction to the Reading Center
Section 6: Introduction to the SAM Center

August 31 Library Tour in Newton Gresham 155
Class will meet in the library, NG 155

September 1 Section 18: Introduction to the SAM Center &
Discussion on Research Project
Section 6: Library Tour in Newton Gresham 155
Class will meet in the library, NG 155

September 2 Section 16: Introduction to the Reading Center & SAM Center

September 3 Three Worlds Collide: America, Europe, and Africa
North American Founders
Created Equal, Ch. 1, “First Founders”
Occupied America, Ch. 1, “Not Just Pyramids, Explorers, and Heroes”

September 6 No Class: Have a Blessed Labor Day Weekend

September 7-10 The Peopling and Unpeopling of North America
North American Founders continued
Created Equal, Ch. 2 & 3, “Euro. Footholds…” & “Controlling the Edges”
Occupied America, Ch. 2, “The Occupation of Middle America”
The Atlantic World, Ch. 1, “Perspectives”
The Atlantic World, Ch. 2, “European Migration”

September 13 Section 18: Library Tour—Class meets in NG 155
Section 6: Discussion of Research Project

September 14 Section 16
Introduction to the Writing Center

September 15-17 The Middle Passage and African Diaspora
North American Founders continued
Lecture Outline, America’s Forgotten Founders: Africa and West Africans
A Century of Colonial Expansion to 1775
Created Equal, Ch. 4, “African Enslavement”
The Atlantic World, Ch. 3, “The African Dimension”
Occupied America, Ch. 2, “The Occupation of Middle America”

September 20 Section 18 & 6
Introduction to the Writing Center

September 21-24 European Colonies in the Atlantic World
British North America
A Century of Colonial Expansion to 1775 continued
Created Equal, Ch. 4, “African Enslavement”
The Atlantic World, Ch. 3, “The African Dimension”
Created Equal, Ch. 5, “An American Babel, 1713-1763”

September 27-29 Toward an Independence Spirit
A Century of Colonial Expansion to 1775 continued
Created Equal, Ch. 6, “The Limits of Imperial Control, 1764-1775”
Quick Glance at Test Review Guide

Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Examination One:
Three Worlds Collide: America, Europe, and Africa
The Peopling and Unpeopling of North America
The Middle Passage and African Diaspora
European Colonies in the Atlantic World of the Americas
British North America
Toward an Independence Spirit
Created Equal, Ch. 1-6
Occupied America, Ch. 1-2
The Atlantic World, Ch. 1-3

PART TWO: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Major Topics of Discussion and Interest for Exam Three & Final Exam:
Revolution and Independence
The New Political and Social Order
Toward a Continental Nation
Toward a Capitalist-Protestant Republic
First Industrial Revolution
The Jacksonian Revolution and the Emerging Two-Party System
The First Labor Movement
Immigration Continues: The Emerging Irish, Germans, and Catholics
The Age of Reform and Reformers
The Slave South, Slavery, and Slaves
Westward Expansion: The Texas Revolution, and the Mexican War
The Impending Crisis: Roots of War and Crisis
The “Splendid Civil War”
“Been in the Storm So Long”: Reconstruction

October 4-8 Revolution and Independence
The Unfinished Revolution, 1775-1803
Created Equal, Ch. 7, “Revolutionaries at War”
Created Equal, Ch. 8, “New Beginnings: the 1780s”
Created Equal, Ch. 9, “Revolutionary Legacies”
Research Project Titles are Due!

October 11 Revolution and Independence
The New Political and Social Order
The Unfinished Revolution, 1775-1803
Created Equal, Ch. 9, “Revolutionary Legacies”
Toward a Continental Nation
Expanding the Boundaries of Freedom and Slavery, 1803-1848
Created Equal, Ch. 10, “Defending and Expanding the New Nation”

October 12 No Class: Happy Birthday SHSU
Students should work on their respective research projects!!

October 13-15 Toward a Continental Nation
Toward a Capitalist-Protestant Republic
First Industrial Revolution
The Jacksonian Revolution and the Emerging Two-Party System
The First Labor Movement
Immigration Continues: The Emerging Irish, Germans, and Catholics
Expanding the Boundaries of Freedom and Slavery, 1803-1848
Created Equal, Ch. 10, “Defending and Expanding the New Nation”
Created Equal, Ch. 11, “Expanding Westward”

October 18-20 First Industrial Revolution
The Jacksonian Revolution and the Emerging Two-Party System
Created Equal, Ch. 12, “Peoples in Motion”
Occupied America, Ch. 3 “A Legacy of Hate”
Quick Glance at Test Review Guide

October 21-22 Examination Two:
Revolution and Independence
The New Political and Social Order
Toward a Continental Nation: Louisiana Purchase and War of 1812
Toward a Capitalist Protestant Republic
First Industrial Revolution
The Jacksonian Rev. and the Emergence of the Two-Party System
Created Equal, Ch. 7-11

October 25-29 The First Labor Movement
Immigration Continues: The Emerging Irish, Germans, and Catholics
The Age of Reform and Reformers
The Slave South, Slavery, and Slaves
Westward Expansion: The Texas Revolution, and the Mexican War
Expanding the Boundaries of Freedom and Slavery
Lecture Outlines on Slavery and the Mexican War
Created Equal, Ch. 11, “Expanding Westward”
Created Equal, Ch. 12, “Peoples in Motion”
Occupied America, Ch. 3 “A Legacy of Hate”

October 25-29 The Slave South, Slavery, and Slaves
Westward Expansion: The Texas Revolution, and the Mexican War
Expanding the Boundaries of Freedom and Slavery
Created Equal, Ch. 11, “Expanding Westward”
Created Equal, Ch. 12, “Peoples in Motion”
Occupied America, Ch. 3 “A Legacy of Hate”

November 1-5 The Impending Crisis: Roots of War and Crisis
The “Splendid Civil War”
Disunion and Reunion
Created Equal, Ch. 13, “The Crisis…”
Created Equal, Ch. 14, “‘To Fight to Gain a Country’””
Bibliographies for Research Projects are Due

November 9-12 The Impending Crisis: Roots of War and Crisis
The “Splendid Civil War”
Disunion and Reunion
Created Equal, Ch. 13, “The Crisis…”
Created Equal, Ch. 14, “‘To Fight to Gain a Country’””
Occupied America, Ch. 4, “Remember the Alamo”

November 15-19 Showing of Ken Burns’ The Civil War
Short Glance at Examination Three Review Guide

November 22-23 Examination Three:
The Age of Reform and Reformers
The Slave South, Slavery, and Slaves
Westward Expansion
The Impending Crisis: Roots of War and Crisis
Created Equal, Ch. 11-13
Occupied America, Ch. 3-4

November 24-26 No Class: Happy Thanksgiving

November 29-30 Research Projects are Due

Nov. 29-Dec. 3 “Been in the Storm So Long”: Reconstruction
Disunion and Reunion
Created Equal, Ch. 15, “In the Wake of War…”: Reconstruction

Dec. 6-10 Disunion and Reunion
Created Equal, Ch. 15, “In the Wake of War…”: Reconstruction
Quick Glance at Final Exam Review Guide

December 13-16 Final Exams: Praise God!!
The “Splendid Civil War”
“Been the Storm So Long:” Reconstruction
Created Equal, Ch. 14-15
Section 6, Wednesday, December 15, 11 AM to 1 PM
Section 16, Tuesday, December 14, 11 AM to 1 PM
Section 18, Monday, December 13, 11 AM to 1 PM
Please Have a Safe and Blessed Holiday Season!!

BE ADVISED THAT CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM CAN RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC "F" FOR THE COURSE. THIS GOES FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS AND TESTS. PLEASE REMEMBER THE DUE DATES FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS AND TESTS. PLEASE DO NOT LOSE THIS SYLLABUS AND COURSE CALENDAR. THESE WILL BE YOUR LIFELINE FOR THE COURSE THIS SEMESTER. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME IN THIS CLASS.