HIST 250 - United States History to 1865

3 Credit: (3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 clinical) 3 Contact Hours:

This introductory survey course explores United States history from the Pre-Colombian era to the Civil War. Emphasis is placed on the social, economic, and political forces that shaped America pre-contact, during the colonial and revolutionary period, and up through the Civil War. A thorough examination of the contributions made by native, minority, and other marginialized populations will be conducted throughout the semester. This course relies on lecture, video material, and individual study and research.
Semesters Offered: fall and even-year summer semesters

Course Goals/ Objectives/ Competencies:
Goal 1: Explore significant events on the North American landscape from the Pre-Columbian era to the Civil War.

Identify key indigenous cultures and their interactions with Europeans over the period.
Examine the forces behind contact, exploration, and conquest of the Western Hemisphere by Europeans.
Analyze the colonial experience through an exploration of the economic, political, and social developments of the period.
Apprise the key factors leading to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and the approval of the U.S. Constitution.
Review the leading causes and pressures of rising tensions leading to the outbreak of the Civil War.
Examine the evolution of democratic institutions and values over the period.

Goal 2: Identify and evaluate the effects of ethnocentrism, nationalism, and sectionalism on contact and conquest, America’s founding era, and the outbreak of the Civil War.

Analyze the effects of cultural diversity and/or homogeneity on ethnocentrism, nationalism, and sectionalism over the period.
Examine the sectional interests of colonial America while analyzing the economic, political, and social structures contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War.
Develop an understanding of how the concept of eurocentric international diplomacy progressed over the period of study and contributes to international relations today.

Goal 3: Assess the interactions of Indigenous, African, and Euro-American individuals, populations, and cultures to identify the contributions, struggles, and conflicts of each, particularly in relation to one another.

Examine the role of group identities and interactions between disparate cultures and peoples to identify the political, economic, and social structures resulting from these experiences.
Evaluate how group orientations contributed to rising tensions and the outbreak of the Civil War.
Identify cultural norms and expectations which undergird interactions between majority and minority groups in American history.
Compare and contrast the role of group identities and interactions during the period of study to present-day to explore how economic, political, and social structures can facilitate or diminish group tensions.