HIST 127: General Description
Introduction
This course explores American history from initial settlement of the continent thousands of
years ago through the conclusion of the Civil War. Obviously, it will be impossible to cover
such a vast and eventful period in detail, but the aim of the class is to give you a general
overview of where the United States came from, the major factors shaping its development,
and the significance of colonial America and the United States for global history. Along the
way, we will consider the major political, social, cultural, economic, and military factors that
molded the United States from its colonial origins through the ordeal of civil war. Hopefully, as
a result of your experience in this class, you will come away with a better sense of your national
heritage and a better understanding of the historical background of events and ideas in the
United States today.
Course Themes
These are some of the “big ideas” that historians use to make sense of American history. They
are key questions that can help us focus on the long-term significance of a particular event or
person. The essay questions and your final exam will draw on at least one of these themes, and
they are good concepts to keep in mind as you complete your reading for each lesson.
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How have environmental, economic, political, and international factors shaped
American history, and how have individuals exercised their own agency within the
context of these major influencers?
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How has the United States sought to bring together people of diverse backgrounds
and cultures into a unified society?
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How has the United States (or colonial America before it) both shaped and been
shaped by the international context?
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Where did the values embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble
to the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights come from? How well has America lived
up to the ideals embodied in its founding documents? How have Americans
suffering from oppression or other grievances leveraged those ideals in pursuit of
their goals?
Required Textbooks
See the course description for current textbook information.
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Course Structure
This course consists of twelve lessons. You will write one or two essays at the end of each
lesson, and the course will culminate in a final exam. More detailed information about these
assignments is below.
Essays
A significant part of this class will come from your own insights as you engage with and expand
upon course material. Each lesson requires you to write one or two essays based on that
lesson’s reading assignment. These essays should not just rehash the material from the
textbook. Rather, you should use them as a chance to think about not only what you’ve read,
but also what the implications are of the historical events in question. How did these events
affect the future? What ideas, circumstances, or outside forces shaped historical actors’
thinking? What can we, in the twenty-first century, learn from these events?
Your essay should begin with a thesis that answers the question posed to you. The rest of the
essay will support that thesis, using specific evidence from the lesson. Use quotations, statistics,
or specific examples to prove why your answer is accurate. Include page numbers from that
lesson’s reading in parentheses whenever you quote or paraphrase material from the readings.
If you have internet access, you can check out the UNC Writing Center’s website for more
guidance on writing a quality essay: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/.
In particular, make sure you give credit for any information or ideas that are not your own.
Claiming another person’s insights is a form of plagiarism, even if you are not quoting them
directly. UNC Libraries has a helpful tutorial about citing information:
http://guides.lib.unc.edu/citing-information/.
If you do not have internet access, you can borrow a writing handbook or style guide (such as
the MLA Handbook or the Chicago Manual of Style) from a public library to learn more about
citing sources.
Key terms are included at the end of each textbook chapter. You will want to identify the
significance of each of these terms to fully understand the material. I have included five terms
of particular importance from each chapter in the introductory notes for each lesson. Make
sure to learn these terms, as they will appear in the final exam.
Final Exam
You will take a supervised, comprehensive exam at the end of the course. The final exam will
consist of six short identification questions, worth five points each, and two longer essays
worth thirty-five points each. You will have three hours to complete the exam.
When you are ready to schedule your exam, submit the exam application form at the end of
this manual via mail or fax to the Self-Paced Courses office.
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Identification Questions
For the identification terms, write a single paragraph defining who, what, or where the term is,
as well as explaining its significance.
For example, if “George Washington” was one of the terms, you would need to note that he
was the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolution, oversaw the drafting of
the Constitution, and was the first president of the United States. However, if all you did was
provide that information, you would receive only a point or two for that part of the
assignment. You would also need to explain how his influence shaped the course of events
during his lifetime and to mention his historical legacy.
Essay Questions
The longer essay questions will ask you to write an essay that covers a longer time span than
your lessons (possibly even the entire course!) and show how some aspect of American society
developed or transformed over time. As with your essays for each lesson, be sure to start with a
thesis statement that concisely answers the question, and then use plenty of specifics from the
course as evidence to prove your point. Since the exam will be closed book/closed notes, you
won’t be expected to give citations (though mentioning that you got information from one of
the additional readings, while not required, couldn’t hurt). But you will still need to use specific
examples from the course to prove your assertions.
To use the George Washington example again, you might get a question asking whether
historians are correct in calling Washington “the indispensable man” of the American
Revolution. If you agree with this assertion, you would need to talk about his role in forming
the strategy of the Revolutionary War, quote other figures from the period who considered him
essential, and explain how his role was crucial in giving legitimacy to the new Constitution.
These are just a few examples of the kinds of evidence you might use in support of your thesis,
but they highlight the fact that you cannot just make assertions—you must prove your claims
by drawing on all relevant lessons for evidence.
Grading
Your course grade will be divided evenly between your final exam and the average of your
lesson essays.
Grading Breakdown
Assignment
Percentage
Lesson Essays
50%
Final Exam
50%
Please note that you must pass the final exam in order to pass the course.
Grading Scale
A
90–100
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B
80–89
C
70–79
D
60–69
F
Below 60
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Course Policies
Since this is a self-paced course, you can set your own schedule for completing the course, as
long as you complete it within nine months of enrolling. There are no strict deadlines for this
class, but make sure to allow at least one week for me to read, grade, comment upon, and
return your assignments after I have received them, not including mailing times, if applicable. I
strongly advise you to set yourself a schedule at the beginning of this course and stick to it.
Honor Code
As a Self-Paced Courses student, you are bound by the Honor Code: It shall be the
responsibility of every student to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which
prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or
University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.
Courses like this are only possible if instructors are able to trust that the work submitted is the
student’s own, so the University Honor Code will be strictly enforced at all times. For more
information about the Honor Code, please visit http://honor.unc.edu.
Course Outline
Lesson Number
Topic
Lesson 1
American Discovery Encounters
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Creating Colonial America
Transforming Colonial American Society
Fraying Imperial Bonds
The American Revolution
Forging a Nation
The Revolution of 1800
Migrations, Markets, and the Masses
An Expanding Nation
The Second Great Awakening
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
“That this nation shall not perish from the earth”?
Civil War Soldiers
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