American History I Syllabus

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American History I
Lecture Notes Index
Last Updated: 12/04/00
Click on the date of the class or topic to go to the notes.  Some notes may not exactly correspond with the class or the syllabus, but if you print them all you will have a reasonably complete record.  I generally try to post notes on the weekend, so please be patient if they are not on-line right away.  Remember, the notes are not substitutes for reading the textbook or for attending class.  You remain responsible for all material covered in the text whether or not it is discussed in class or appears on my notes pages.

Tony Ball

 
Date(s) Topic
8/29 Introductions, Overview of Course

Part I: Pre-Colonial and Colonial Period
8/31 Native American Cultures prior to European Arrival; Africa before the North Atlantic Slave Trade (Due to the Miscommunication about the Date of Convocation, this lecture was combined with 9/5/00; Click Below for Notes.)
9/5 Europe on the Eve of Conquest; French, Spanish and English Approaches to the New World
9/7 English Colonization: Comparison of Chesapeake Experience with Massachusetts Bay and the Middle Colonies
9/12 Family, Social Structure and Slavery in Colonial North America (Most of 9/12 spent on political history, events in England; we'll return to family, social structure and slavery on 9/14 and 9/19.)
9/14 Economics, Politics and Social Unrest to 1700; Paper Assignments Distributed
9/19 Eighteenth Century America: Social and Cultural; Test #1 Review Sheet Distributed
9/21 Clash of Political Cultures; Century of Imperial War
9/26 Test #1, Covering Chapters 1-4; Lectures through 9/21.

Part II: Independence and Early Republic
9/28 The Movement Toward Independence (1763-1776)
10/3 The Revolution; Problems of the Early Republic (1776-1787)
10/5 The Constitutional Convention and the Struggle for Ratification
10/10 Democracy in Distress: The Washington and Adams Presidencies Extra Credit Assignment ("Kennewick Man") Distributed
10/12 Jeffersonian Ascendancy: Expansion and Reform  Test #2 Review Sheet
10/17 The Failure of Foreign Policy and the "Strange War of 1812"
10/19 Test #2, Covering Chapters 5-8; Lectures from 9/28 through 10/17.

Part III: Nation Building and Jacksonian Democracy
10/24 Nationalism and Nation Building; Emergence of a Market Economy; the Missouri Compromise and the Brewing Controversy over Slavery
10/26 Andrew Jackson and the "Triumph of White Men's Democracy"
10/31 The Second Great Awakening; Temperance, Abolitionism, Women's Suffrage and other Antebellum Reform Movements
11/2 Westward Expansion: The Texan Revolution, Oregon Trail and Mormon Trek
11/7 
 Sick Day, No Class
11/9 Test #3, Take Home Test, Distributed

Part IV: Slavery, Sectionalism, Secession and Civil War
11/14 Masters and Slaves: Social Structure and the Institution of Slavery in the Antebellum South
11/16 The Black Experience Under Slavery; Free Blacks in North and South
11/21 The Sectional Crisis over Slavery (1846-1860)
11/23 No Class -- Thanksgiving Holiday
11/28-11/30 The Civil War: From Secession to Gettysburg
12/5 Test #4, Covering Chapters 13-15; Lectures from 11/14 through 11/30.  Postponed Until 12/7; Click HERE for review sheet.
12/7 Paper Discussion; Wrap-Up