U. S. Formative

Fall 2003

TR 9:30-10:45

Dr. Leslie Heaphy

Room 219

 

Office: 310D

Office Hours:  MW 9-10 a.m., W 1-2 p.m. and 3:30-4:30, TR 12:30-1:30 or by appointment

Contacts:  244-3304 or e-mail at Lheaphy@stark.kent.edu

 

Course Description

This Course will examine the development of the United States from Colonial days through the Civil War.  Topics will be explored thematically as well as chronologically by examining events from social, political, economic, cultural and religious contexts.  Students will read and learn about key individuals, events, controversies and issues in the formation of the United States.  The content will be delivered through lectures, discussions, small group projects, and videos.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES 

 

This course has several objectives:

 

1.       To strengthen your reading and critical thinking skills through a careful consideration of the reading assignments;

2.       To exercise and improve your writing skills with many opportunities;

3.       To enhance your ability to express yourself through classroom discussion, and to foster your respect for and appreciation of beliefs with which you may not agree;

4.       To promote your understanding and appreciation of historical changes and the impact such changes have upon humanity;

5.       To improve your knowledge of early American History and how it connects with the present

 

 

Required Texts

Common Sense and Related Readings

The Cherokee Removal

America, Past and Present, Vol. I

 

 

Course Assignments

3 Exams…………………………………… 100 points ea. (300  total)

Identification Quiz………………………….    10 points

Journal……….………………………………. 40 points

Class Participation and attendance…………. .30 points

First Person Assignment……………………...20 points

Common Sense Assignment …………………40 points

Trail of Tears Assignment……………………40 points

Web Assignment……………………………...20 points

                                                                                                500 total

 

Grading Scale

A         90-100                                     450-500

B          80-89                                       400-449

C         70-79                                       350-399

D         60-69                                       300-349

F          Below 60                                 Below 300

 

Attendance

Students are expected to attend class each week.  Students are responsible for the material covered on the days they are not there and for getting assignments turned in on time.  There will be periodic in-class assignments that cannot be made up and count in your class participation grade.  Students who do not attend class regularly may miss these assignments and that can have a detrimental affect on their overall grade.

 

Students with Disabilities

In accordance with University policy, if you have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course; please contact Kelly Kulick in Student Services to submit documentation.  Then you must contact the instructor so they are aware of any required accommodations.

 

Academic Honesty

All work that students hand in is expected to be their own.  Failure to do so is plagiarism and students could be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in the "Cheating and Plagiarism" section of the University's Digest of Rules and Regulations.  Your instructor may use software to identify portions of papers which have been copied from websites.

 

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

The Stark Campus’s procedure for handling student grievances conforms to the “Student Academic Complaint Policy & Procedures” set down as University Policy 3342-4-16 in the University Policy Register.

 

Writing Center

Located in Main Hall, Room 202, the Writing Center offers students help and instruction on any writing assignments in this class or any other.  They offer tutorials, handouts and brochures, and information on their website:  www.stark.kent.edu/writing.  There is no cost to use this service.

           

Testing Center

The Testing Center is located in the lower level of the Stark Campus library.  Call ext. 53332 for hours and other information.

 

Library Services

For help with research related questions students can call the library (ext. 53330) or email us at refdesk@stark.kent.edu to set up an individualized instructional

session with one of our four librarians.  Students are not required

to schedule an appointment, they can just come in at any time. 

However, if we have advance notice we can prepare for the student's

visit and more efficiently address their needs.

 

Finally, for students unable to come into the library, OhioLINK now

offers online, real-time assistance in the form of a Chat Reference

service.  Students can connect with an OhioLINK librarian (not always

a KSU librarian) from off-campus (http://chat.ohiolink.edu) and

engage in a chat session to assist them with the use of the many

online services available to them from home.

 

Campus Theme

This Year’s Campus Theme is Globalization.  The purpose behind the campus theme is to help students see connections in their education from course to course as well as seeing how different disciplines can examine the same ideas.  A common text called Globalization: A Very Short Introduction is available for those interested in reading more about this idea and what it means for our daily lives in the twenty-first century.

 

Course Outline

This schedule of readings is tentative and subject to change as we begin our class.  Students will be kept up to date on what topics will be covered each week.  It is highly recommended that students try to at least skim the material before class and then read in more depth after class.

 

Week 1                        Background and the Columbian Exchange

                                                Divine, Chapter 1

Week 2                        Southern Colonies

                                                Divine, Chapter 2

                                                1st Person Assignment—Due 9/4

Week 3                        Northern Colonies

                                                Divine, Chapter 3

                                                Identification Quiz-9/11

Week 4                        Colonial Life

                                                Divine, Chapter 4

Week 5                        Changing Relations with England

                                                Divine, Chapter 5 and Common Sense

                                                1st Exam and journals-Thurs. Sept. 25th

Week 6                        Revolutionary Era

                                                Finish Common Sense

                                                Common Sense paper due 10/2

Week 7                        New Nation

                                                Divine, Chapter 6 and 7

Week 8                        Final Steps to Independence

                                                Divine, Chapter 8 and 9; start Cherokee Removal

Week 9                        Growth of Slavery

                                                Divine, Chapter 13 and Finish Cherokee Removal

                                                Trail of Tears paper due 10/23

Week 10                      Reform Movements

                                                Divine, chapter 10 and 11

                                                2nd Exam and journals-Thurs. Oct. 30th

Week 11                      Westward Expansion

                                                Divine, Chapter 12

Week 12                      American System

                                               

Week 13                      Changing Fortunes

                                                Divine, chapter 14                                           

Week 14                      Coming of War

                                                Divine, chapter 15

Week 15                      Lincoln and War

                                                Web Assignment due 12/4

Week 16                      Final Exam and journals-Thurs. Dec. 11th at 8 a.m.

 

Assignments

 

Exams

There will be three essay exams during the semester.  The due dates are listed on the reading schedule above.  Review sheets will be given out no earlier than one week before the exam.  Make-up exams are not automatically given but are at the discretion of the professor.  If you have an emergency (i.e. death in the family, hospitalization)please notify the instructor as soon as you are aware of the problem to see if other arrangements can be made.  Make-up exams will be taken in the Testing Center and will be different than the in-class exam.

 

Identification Quiz

There will be one quiz given before the first exam to help students prepare for the format and types of questions on the exam.  Students who miss the quiz will have one week to automatically make it up at the testing center.  Extra quizzes will simply be sent to the testing center and recollected after one week.  If you do not take it in that time it will be recorded as a zero.  The quizzes sent to the testing center will be different than the in-class quiz.

 

Class Participation

Throughout the semester there will be periodic in-class work assigned, either as individuals or in groups.  This is work that cannot be made up so if you miss class this is where your grade will be hurt because there will be points awarded for all assignments.

 

Journal

Students will keep a journal throughout the semester, making one entry per week.  Be sure to include a date with each entry.  Each entry will reflect on what they have learned that week in class—through lectures, assignments and readings.  Entries should be reflective and not just summative.  They should not just be a list of the topics covered but what you learned from them, what you still don’t understand, questions that you have based on what you are learning and how you might connect the material to the present.  This last piece will be the key to a good entry.   If this is not addressed the entries will not receive full points.  The entries can be handwritten or typed and should be about one page typed and a page and a half if handwritten.  They will be collected three times during the semester.  Late journals will be accepted but lose three points each day they are late.

 

Students will be graded on the following:

  • Inclusion of one entry per week
  • Reflection of their learning
  • Application of learning to today
  • Questions about their learning

 

First Person Assignment

Each student will write a two page paper, typed about their experience in the New World.  The paper should be written as a primary source explaining what your life is like either after your arrival in the Southern Colonies or on the trip over to the New World.  This paper can be written as a diary entry or letter home.  In either case a date must be included to show when you were writing.  This will establish context and be used to ensure historical accuracy.  While students are creating a fictional self to write this account they will be graded on the historical accuracy of their account.  For example, writing in the 1620s about your arrival in Georgia would not be possible because the colony did not yet exist.

The paper is not a research paper and should be able to be completed using your text, class notes and the website that comes with the text.  If you use other sources you must include a bibliography.  In addition, please remember if you quote, paraphrase or borrow ideas from your text be sure to give title and page number in your paper so you are plagiarizing.  Plagiarism on this assignment may result in a failing grade for the paper.

Late papers are accepted but will three points for each day they are late.

 

Students will be graded on the following:

  • Historical accuracy
  • Citations
  • Bibliography if needed
  • Date included
  • Supporting detail

 

Common Sense Paper

Each student will write a 3-4 page, typed paper based on the text Common Sense and Related Writings.  Using at least two of the essays included in this text students must find a common theme that Paine addresses and show the differences and or/similarities in the way he treats the chosen topic.  After showing how Paine uses the theme students should discuss why they think this theme was important to Paine?  What did it say about the time period and events which Paine lived through?  For example, if a theme is religion—how does Paine use this theme in Common Sense and African Slavery in America?  Why does he choose the religious approach to make his point?

Students need to clearly define their theme and use the essays for support.  Then they need to be able to apply what they have read in these primary sources to what they know about the Revolutionary period.  This is what will be the key to a good paper.

Be sure to cite all quotation and paraphrasing from the essays by giving page numbers in the paper.  Failure to do so is plagiarism and will result in a failing grade for the assignment. 

Papers are due on October 2nd.  Late papers are accepted but will three points for each day they are late.

 

Students will be graded on the following:

  • Thesis
  • Clarity of argument
  • Use of support from at least two essays
  • Grammatical style
  • Citations
  • Application of topic to revolutionary era
  • Conclusion

 

Cherokee Removal Paper

Each student will write a 3-4 page paper using the book, Cherokee Removal, as their main source.  Papers will be typed, double-spaced and have a title page with their name, the instructor’s name and the course included with the title of their paper.  Papers will be due on Thursday, October 23rd.  Late papers are accepted but will lose three points for each day they are late. 

Below are a series of questions that can be answered after reading Cherokee Removal.  Each student is expected to choose one set of questions and answer it completely in their paper.  Students are to choose only one so that their paper can be focused and well-supported.

 

Questions

A.  Discuss how the controversy over Cherokee land in Georgia became part of the argument of states rights versus federal rights.  Be sure to use examples from the documents in the text to support your points.

 

B.  Discuss how white America thought the civilizing process should work and why it was not successful in the long run.  Be sure to use examples from the documents in the text to support your arguments.

 

C.  Explain why some of the Cherokee were willing to cede their land and move west while others refused.  How did different groups try to resolve the differences?  Be sure to use examples from the documents in the text as support for your points.

 

  1.  Discuss the role of President Jackson and the changes he made in the government’s Indian policy.  What did he believe about the responsibility of the Federal government toward the Indians?  Be sure to use specific examples from the documents in the text to support your points.

 

            Students will be graded on the following:

  • Organization and flow
  • Style—grammatical errors, typos, etc.
  • Use of the text
  • Citations of material
  • Page length
  • Inclusion of Title page
  • Strength of argument
  • Thesis and conclusion clearly stated
  • Supporting evidence
  • How well the questions are addressed and answered

 

Web Assignment

Each student will complete a review on a website of their choosing, as long as it pertains to the time period and topics of this course.  A form for this project will be handed out in class with further directions on this assignment.  Late papers are accepted but will three points for each day they are late.