U S History to 1865 HIST20155 LSU Fall 2015 Course Syllabus Prof Aaron Sheehan Dean email asd lsu edu Office 231A Himes Hall Office Phone 578 4507 Office Hours Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 00 10 30 or by appt Teaching Assistant Andrew Johnson email johnsondrew83 gmail com Office 311 Himes Hall Office Hours Monday and Wednesday 9 00 10 30 or by appt Supplemental Instructor Alexis Hlavaty email alexis g hlavaty gmail com Office 39 Allen Office Hours Tuesdays 10 00 1 00 or by appt SI Sessions Sunday 4 30 6 00 Tuesdays 4 30 6 00 Class meets TR 7 30 8 50 AM in 16 Lockett Hall Course Description This class will introduce students to the history of North America from the mid sixteenth century until 1865 We will investigate how migrants from Europe and Africa interacted with each other and with native peoples across the continent We will then analyze how all these groups came together in conflict and cooperation to form new communities and by the late eighteenth century a new nation We will look at both the successes of that early national experiment a stable democratic government and economic growth and the failures economic inequality and racial injustice Along the way we will try to understand how we came to have these United States looking at the alternative paths of development that could have been pursued Central to our investigation will be a discussion of the rise of both democracy and capitalism which were refined and implemented here in unique ways We will also explore the interactions of America and the rest of the world How did Americans participate in the larger Atlantic world that developed in the 17th and 18th centuries What impact did foreign events and trends have on American developments Among the themes that will be investigated in detail are patterns and processes of migration demographic growth and change economic expansion political development social mobility social differentiation religious thought and change cultural growth and diversity and nationhood Assignments Evaluations and Grading Grades will be based on students performance on several short in class assignments and a series of exams 1 Assignment Weights In class assignments unscheduled 15 First Midterm 20 Second Midterm 20 Third Exam 20 Final Exam 25 Grading Scale 100 98 A 97 93 A 92 90 A 89 88 B 87 83 B 82 80 B 79 78 C 77 73 C 72 70 C 69 68 D 67 63 D 62 60 D 59 and lower F This is primarily a lecture class Outlines and images will be posted on Moodle before each lecture You are required to read the Schaller textbook You will find it more useful to finish the readings before the lectures to which they are keyed on the syllabus You should bring the book to lecture because we will discuss the primary sources included within each chapter Exams are based on the textbook and the lecture material they will include identifications and essays Large Bluebooks are required for the exams so please bring one with you each exam day buy four now for the entire semester All exams are closed book and closed notes Attendance is mandatory and make up exams will be administered only in exceptional cases Any student who has missed an exam or an in class assignment for a legitimate and documented reason must contact the instructor or graduate assistant within 48 hours of the missed exam The instructor will then decide if and when a make up exam will be given Extra Credit Opportunity Voluntary discussion sections will be held each week beginning September 8 Each section will be led by the TA the SI or the professor We will focus on the primary source readings at the end of each chapter and will help students put those sources in historical context in preparation for exams The times and locations will be posted on Moodle each week and you must sign up for the discussion section of your choice at least two hours before the meeting Discussions are voluntary but students who attend must bring their textbooks with them and must participate in discussion If you attend and participate in at least three discussions over the semester you will receive extra credit at the end of the semester amounting to two percentage points added to your overall grade You can only attend one discussion per week Moodle In Moodle you will find the syllabus announcements and supplementary material upon which students will be expected to draw in papers and exams so expect to visit the site weekly I will maintain an open discussion board on Moodle on which students are encouraged to post questions and comments about the issues raised in readings and lectures Class policies All class work must be your own Plagiarism cheating or other violations of academic protocol will result in an F for the course The university s policy on academic misconduct can be found at https saa lsu edu code 10 2 academic misconduct Out of respect to your fellow students please arrive on time and do not leave early Students should keep phones turned off while in class except in cases of emergency Please do not text in class Attendance at lecture is required Students are allowed three absences during the semester For each absence after three one third of a point will be deducted from the student s final course grade e g if a student missed five classes and earned a 88 5 the adjusted final grade would be 87 9 2 General Education Humanities course HIST 2055 awards General Education Humanities credit because it addresses the achievement of the following General Education Competency LSU graduates will demonstrate an understanding of historical cultural and philosophical complexity that supports sophisticated discourse Required Readings Michael Schaller et al American Horizons U S History in a Global Context Volume 1 To 1877 2nd ed New York Oxford University Press 2015 A copy of the textbook is available on 2 hour reserve in Middleton library Schedule Week 1 Beginnings Tuesday August 25 Introduction Thursday August 27 The Old Worlds Native America Europe and Africa in the 16th Century Reading Schaller American Horizons Chapter 1 p 3 37 Week 2 First Encounters Tuesday September 1 A New World Reading Schaller American Horizons Chapter 2 p 39 71 Thursday September 3 Conflict and Cooperation Week 3 Building British Colonies Tuesday September 8 Plantation America The 17th Century South Reading Schaller American Horizons Chapter 3 p 73 109 Thursday September 10 A Little Commonwealth 17th Century New England Week 4 Indian Worlds Tuesday September 15 Religion Trade and War Reading Schaller American