Goals and Purpose

            The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the ideas, events, values, conflicts, and achievements of the United States from its earliest beginnings to the modern period.  This course is to be viewed not as an end -- not as the last course in American history you will ever take -- but rather as a beginning -- your first detailed look at the people and ideas that have shaped this nation.  As a result of our readings, discussions, and writing, I hope you will develop a lifelong interest in history.

            Facts, names, and events are important, but they are not the sum total of history.  This course is designed to move beyond that to look at other issues, including these:

q       How does historiography (the writing of history) affect our understanding of the United States?  What difference does it make who writes history?  How should we look at primary and secondary sources?  How do primary sources enrich the information found in textbooks?  Why are we reading the supplementary readings I have chosen?

q       How and why do certain issues and themes recur in our history?  How have issues of race played out at various times in our history?  What has been the role of faith and religion for Americans?  Have differences in class, national origin, and gender affected our perceptions of what it is to be an American? How have we changed our definition or view of freedom over the centuries?

q       How have issues in other related social science fields shaped the development of our national history?  How has economic policy reflected the national character?  How has the geography of this expanse influenced people and events?  Have art, literature, and popular culture reflected or effected change?

            Our goal is to examine these and other ideas in the context of readings and discussions.  You must be committed to reading with diligence and openness, thinking with a critical mind, and speaking with insight and a willingness to listen to others.  This is a college-level course, and I will expect your work and efforts to reflect that. 

            In addition to the textbook, sources of information for our discussions and for your analytical essays will come from primary sources (such as first-person slave narratives), secondary sources (references books and articles from scholarly journals), software (such as the Cold War simulation "Escalation" or the software on Ellis Island), the Internet (such as Web sites devoted to the Lowell Mill), fiction (such as The Grapes of Wrath), and DVD's (such as "The Progressive Era" from the History Channel).