U. S. History - 1301 LE98
Fall, 2001
Mrs. Linda Graham
Office Hours: By appointment - Meet at reception desk
Phone: (713) 729-3404 (leave a message)
e-mail: lasmith_graham@yahoo.com
7:05 - 8:20 pm M-W, Room 407 SU
3 Credit Hours
Classes begin August 27th and go through December 14th
Course Description: U. S. History survey beginning with the European background and the
discovery of America, continuing through the close of Reconstruction in 1877.
Social, economic, cultural, political and diplomatic developments are emphasized and
augmented with the roles of the Afro-Americans, Latin-Americans and
Native-Americans when appropriate.
Prerequisites: Minimum passing scores on TASP reading and writing tests.
Objectives: The student should have a working knowledge in the analysis of American
history in the areas of economics, education, religion, society and politics and be
able to determine watershed dates regarding the rise of the United States from the
time of her first explorers to the Civil War. The student will demonstrate cause of
why the different colonies came into being, their effect on this continent, as well as the
effects this had on England. The student will be able to compare the overall
effect on the global picture, also, organizing information to predict and infer
outcomes.
Expectations: The student shall inculcate the above-mentioned information in the
performances of such tasks as an oral presentation, a research paper, quizzes and
exams. All of these expectations are vital parts of each student’s grade. The
student is expected to be at class promptly for all classes, especially for tests and
quizzes.
* Note: Students that do not stay for class after taking any quiz do not receive credit for that quiz and
will be counted as absent.
(It will be the responsibility of the individual student to have a research topic to
present to the instructor in outline form on the specified date of September 5th,
designated by the instructor. The completed paper is due October 24rth. It is the
responsibility of the student to turn in all assigned work on time, which is due at the
beginning of class. Late assignments are not accepted.)
Last Day to Drop: Please be sure that you are aware of your status and, if you wish to drop
the course, please do so by the specified date of November 16th so as to insure that
you do not receive a poor grade that will negatively alter your G.P.A. The instructor
DOES NOT drop any student.
Miscellaneous: Please turn off your beepers, pagers and cell phones during class!
OUTLINE
I
Rise of the New World
II
The Creation of the Thirteen Colonies
III
Life in America during the 1600’s (film)
IV
America on the eve of her revolution
V
America from the British Empire to her Confederations (film)
VI
From Jeffersonian democracy to James Madison and the second
War for Independence.
VII
The rise of New Nationalism
VIII
Reform and Culture
IX
Sectionalism and the Drift towards disunion (film)
X
Reconstruction
Textbook: American Passages by Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, & Soderlund, and American
Passages Documents Collection by the same authors.
Evaluations: There will be a total of six quizzes during the semester. These are minor grades
and count once each. There will be two quizzes prior to each exam. One will be
written out as sentences and the other will be oral - fill in the blank. Exams, the
outline for the research paper and the oral presentation of the research paper are
major grades and count twice. No grades are dropped. Make-ups will be evaluated
on an individual basis. There are two departmental exams, a pre-test at the
beginning of the course and a post-test at the end of the course. These are multiple
choice done on a scantron. In addition to these exams, there are three exams that
cover the course work. They come throughout the course on instructor-specified
dates and include three parts: 12 sentences, 13 fill in the blanks and two essays
per these specific exams. These three are written in the Bluebook.
Departmental Pre-Test: August 29th
Quiz I Sept 10th (chapters 1-3) - written
Quiz II Sept 17th (chapters 4-6) - verbal
Quiz III Oct 10th (chapters 8 & 9) - written
Quiz IV Oct 17th (chapters 10 & 11) - verbal
Quiz V Nov 7th (chapters 13 & 14) - written
Quiz VI Nov 14th (chapters 15 & 16) - verbal
Exam I Sept 24th (chap. 1-6)
Exam II Oct 31st (chap. 7-12)
Exam III Nov 19th (chap. 13-16)
Departmental Post-Test: December 12th
* Note: Students that do not stay for class after taking any quiz do not receive credit for that quiz and
will be counted as absent.
Grading Policy: The quiz grades will be averaged for a daily grade. The exam grades
(including the final), outline, oral presentation and research paper are counted twice
and averaged up and added with the daily grades for the overall grade. A
cummulative departmental exam will be given at the end of the semester which will
be evaluated at 10% of the student’s grade.
Grading Scale:
90-100 = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
59 & below = F
Late assignments are not accepted. They are to be turned in at the beginning of class.
Supplies: Bluebook for exams, two scantrons and Ayers textbook with the documents text
for the semester.
Attendance Policy: The student is responsible for his attendance to class. The student shall
be present for three-fourths of the class meetings (or twenty-seven of the thirty
classes) and shall be present in the classroom during class.
Additional Information / Instructor Policies:
Student Conduct: Guidelines shall be followed as stated on pages 14 & 15 of the Student
Handbook. Included are such topics as dishonesty, obstruction and disruption, plagiarism,
collusion and bad conduct. If there are any problems regarding these areas for the class
and/or instructor, such person(s) causing the problems shall be expelled from the classroom
and referred to the counselor for further instruction as to what shall be done regarding the
situation.
* The instructor reserves the right to modify this syllabus during the semester.
