Advanced topics in American History I

General data

Course ID:	4219-AW101-A	Erasmus code / ISCED:	08.3 / (0222) History and archaeology
Course title:	Advanced topics in American History I	Name in Polish:	Advanced topics in American History I (Historia USA I - zagadnienia zaawansowane)
Organizational unit:	American Studies Center
Course groups:	All classes - weekday programme - 2nd cycle All classes - weekday programme - 2nd cycle - Advanced Track
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	(not available) view allocation of credits
Language:	English
Type of course:	obligatory courses
Prerequisites (description):	This course assumes that students have had History of the United States I, 4219-AW001. Under rare circumstances, this requirement may be waved by the instructor.
Short description:	In addition to providing a general review of American History from the Spanish exploration through Reconstruction, students will be exposed to a more in depth analysis of pivotal moments in American politics, society, and culture of this era.
Full description:	This lecture has three central topics: the origins and development of European colonies in North America, the causes and consequences of the American Revolution, and the 19th century development of American society leading to the Civil War. Woven into these topics will be a consideration of place and fate of Native Americans, the origins and growth of slavery, and the evolving role of women. Possible topics for more in depth analysis may include Spanish-Aztec conflict in Mexico The Salem Witch trails Life in eighteenth century Massachusetts Politics in 1790s Philadelphia Working Women in textile mills Slave society Using African Americans in Civil War Armies General schedule of topics Week 1 Red, White, and Black Week 2 First Contact Week 3 Virginia Week 4 Massachusetts Week 5 18th Century Society Week 6 Road to Revolution Week 7 War and Social Revolution Week 8 Constitution and Politics in the New Republic Weeks 9&10 Northern Antebellum Society Week 11 Southern Antebellum Society Week 12 Slave society Week 13 Road to Secession Week 14 Civil War Week 15 Politics of Reconstruction
Bibliography:	Selections from the following: Wheeling and Becker, Discovering the American Past, vol. 1 Davidson and Lytle, After the Fact Merrill, “Indians’ New World” Nash, “Hidden History of Mestizo America” Morgan, “The First American Boom” Morgan, “Puritans and Sex” Nash, “Urban Wealth and Poverty in Pre-Revolutionary America” Isaac, “Dramatizing the Ideology of the Revolution” Crow, “Slave Rebelliousness in North Carolina” Kerber, “The Republican Mother” Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood” Johnson, “The Modernization of Mayo Greenleaf Patch” McCurry, “Two Faces of Republicanism” Johnson, “Smothered Slave Infants” Pierson, “All Southern Society is Assailed by the Foulest Charges” Goen, “Broken Churches, Broken Nation” Faust, “The Civil War Soldier and the Art of Dying” Harris, “The Creed of the Carpetbaggers”
Learning outcomes:	1. Students will gain an understanding of the general themes of American history from the earliest explorations and colonies through Reconstruction. 2. Students will learn to read critically the contributions of historians to our understanding of American history. 3. Students will learn how to analyze primary sources for what they reveal about the era in which they were produced. 4. Students will learn to synthesize this material to make arguments that demonstrate their understanding of American history.
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	Students will be required to take a final, written exam consisting of three short essays on assigned texts (40% of the grade) and one long essay addressing a main theme of the course (60% of the grade). The short essays will be evaluated on how accurately the answer summarizes the argument and evidence of the assigned reading. The long essay will be evaluated on the essay’s comprehensiveness (how well it addresses the various aspects of the question), accuracy (how well the main theme of the essay answers the question and how well the evidence used in the essay supports the essay’s argument), argument (how well the essay develops a coherent, logical argument answering the question), and evidence (the essay’s synthesis of relevant information from the lectures and assigned readings).

This course is not currently offered.

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