| The United States
To 1877 HIST 1301 Houston Community College Summer 2010 |
Instructor: Clayton
Lust Office: C-252 Phone: 832-859-0854 Email: clayton@claytonlust.com |
Course Description:
The first part of American history is one of great contradictions. It saw some of the most barbaric acts, but also movements towards social justice. The story of the US to 1877 is the story of the implementation of the world's largest system of slavery; the removal of Native Americans east of the Mississippi; the conquest of a vast empire from Spain and Mexico; and the triumph of urban values. But it is also the story of the defeat and collapse of slavery; the American reform tradition; and new ideals of liberty, equality and democracy.
Disclaimer - Some of the topics we discuss in this class are violent and our discussions will not sugarcoat the brutality. At times you may be offended - and you should be offended. Regardless, the history taught in this class will be in no way sanitized.
Objectionable Materials Warning: Some of the film clips that we will watch during the semester contain scenes of explicit violence, sexual brutality, ethnic and gender stereotyping, nudity, obscenity, adult themes, profanity, and offensive language that might be found objectionable by some. There may also be ideas or practices endorsed by specific motion pictures that some might consider immoral or amoral. All of these films, however, were already in wide circulation in the culture at large and are, in the instructor’s opinion, essential to understanding American cultural history
Books:
Hypertext History: Our Online American History Textbook – Online text http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/hyper_titles.cfm - Recommended (no cost)
Reading Packet, accessible via our webct site – Required (no cost)
Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave – available in hard copy or as a free download at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23/23-h/23-h.htm - Required
McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution - Required.
Grading:
Your grade in this class is arrived at in the following manner. There are two exams, a midterm worth 30% of your grade and a final exam worth 40%. Additionally there will be two (2) Reader packet quizzes worth 10% each (for a total of 20%). The final 10% will be based on unannounced pop quizzes.
The formats will be as follows:
Midterm: Total of 30 points – 10 multiple choice (1 point each); one book essay (5 points); one thematic essay (15 points).
Final Exam: Total of 40 points – 15 multiple choice (1 point each); one book essay (5 points); one thematic essay (20 points).
Reader Packet Quizzes: 10 points per quiz, containing 2 short answers worth 5 points each.
Pop Quizzes: A series of 5 multiple choice questions worth 2 points each, based on that day’s and/or the previous day’s lecture. I will then take the average of your scores, and you get the point value (i.e., if you take 5 quizzes and average 8 out of 10, you get 8 points).
At the end of the semester I will take your accumulated points and add them together and assign a grade on the following basis:
SCALE: 90-100=A 80-89=B 70-79=C 60-69=D 59 and below=F
THERE ARE NO MAKE-UPS IN THIS CLASS EXCEPT IN CASES OF DIRE, DOCUMENTED EMERGENCY. WHETHER A MAKEUP WILL BE GIVEN IS AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE INSTRUCTOR – YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO A MAKEUP SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU MISS AN ASSIGNMENT, THIS IS NOT THE 13TH GRADE. ANY MAKEUP WILL BE IN AN ALL-ESSAY FORMAT, AND WILL BE GIVEN ON AUG 12 AT 8 AM – NONE OF THIS IS NEGOTIABLE
FYIs
The Houston Community College System
is an open-admission, public institution of higher education offering
academic preparation and lifelong learning opportunities that prepare
individuals in our diverse communities for life and work in an increasingly
international and technological society. The History Department will
provide an environment conducive to learning and encourages academic
excellence. Furthermore the History faculty will encourage the development
of the following competencies:
Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Critical Thinking, and Computer
Literacy.
Disability Policy
Classroom Behavior:
THIS IS NOT THE 13TH GRADE. You are adults, and are expected to behave as such. Come to class prepared to take notes every Saturday- a pen and notebook are all you required to bring with you. Additionally I have a few very simple rules.
- The ONLY person who should be talking is me. If you have a question raise your hand - don't ask the person next to you, unless the person next to you has a PhD in history.
- NO CELL PHONES. In case that wasn't clear, let me repeat - NO CELL PHONES. When you enter this classroom, cell phones are to be turned off or on vibrate. DO NOT EVER answer a call in class. If you have a situation where it is imperative you be reached, tell me beforehand. Acceptable situations are pregnancy (your own or spouse's), serious family illness, etc. Your boyfriend or girlfriend needing to talk is not an emergency situation. If a phone goes off in class, you will leave for the day. If a second goes off, I leave, and you will be responsible for the material that would have been covered that day.
- You registered for this class - no one forced you to. Once you are here, you are here. Do NOT get up and leave in the middle of class, unless you have spoken to me beforehand and I approved it.
- Do not read materials for other classes, do homework, listen to CD/mp3 players, sleep, or read newspapers.
- Finally, respect your peers. Periodically we may have discussions in this class where you will be asked to express your own ideas. This classroom and the class list serve must be spaces in which people feel free to express thoughts. Someone may say something you completely disagree with, that even I may disagree with. But I will not tolerate any circumstance where students feel threatened or fearful of expressing ideas - after all that is why you are going to college, to flesh out your ideas and beliefs and find a way to convey those to others.
I reserve the right to drop students who are repeatedly disruptive or who repeatedly violate the course rules.
If these are rules that you think you will be unable to follow, please drop the class and hand back my syllabus.
Attendance:
Class attendance is expected and per HCC policy is mandatory. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class - if you are late YOU WILL BE COUNTED AS ABSENT UNLESS YOU SPEAK TO ME AT THE END OF CLASS - it is YOUR responsibility to let me know you arrived, I will not track you down. Students are permitted three free absences, after that the student will lose one point from their final grade for each additional absence. Students who maintain perfect attendance will receive a 3-point bonus to their course grade. While HCC MAY (and I stress may) administratively drop you if you miss more than six hours of in-calss time, deciding not to attend class will not result in MY dropping you – if you wish to drop the class it is your responsibility to do so.
Tardiness:
Get here on time. Occasional lateness happens, but habitual lateness is a choice – it is disrespectful to your fellow classmates to habitually interrupt class so you can stroll in late, and is therefore inexcusable. If you are the type of person who is constantly late, you should consider another class.
Academic Honesty:
Academic Honesty Policy
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCC policy and by the rules of this class.
- Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either whole or in part) without crediting the source and constitutes the theft of another person’s intellectual property. It is the most common form of academic dishonesty. If you are unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism, you should seek clarification before beginning an assignment.
- Cheating involves fraud and deception for the purpose of violating legitimate testing rules. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: copying from another student’s test paper, using materials or resources not authorized by the instructor during an exam; collaborating with another student during a test; knowingly using, buying, selling whole or part of an unadministered test.
Academic dishonesty constitutes a severe violation of HCC policy and rules and is subject to stringent penalties. Violations of these policies will result, at a minimum, in the automatic failure of this course. Severe violations could result in suspension or expulsion from HCC.
Schedule: |
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| Week 1/July 12-15 | |||
Introduction
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Hypertext History – “The First Americans” through “The American Revolution” Reading Packet – Week One Assignments Begin reading Frederick Douglass – FINISH by July 26 for midterm. |
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| Week 2/July 19 – 22 | |||
The Articles of Confederation |
Hypertext History – “The Founders” through “The Era of Good Feelings” Reading Packet - Week Two Assignments Finish reading A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Monday July 26 |
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| Week 3/
July 26 – 29 The Second Great Awakening |
Hypertext History – “Jacksonian Democracy” through “Westward Expansion” Reading Packet – Week Three Assignments Begin Reading James McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution – finish by the final exam. |
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| Week 4/Aug 2 – 5 | |||
The Gold Rush |
Hypertext History – “The Pre-Civil War South,” “The Impending Crisis,” “The Civil War,” and “Reconstruction” Reading Packet – Week Four Assignments |
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| Week 5/Aug 9- 11 | |||
Catch up and Review
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Finish Reading Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution for final exam | ||
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