EST 202: American History to the Civil War FALL 2025

Course  Description: A survey of U.S. history considering the origin and development of

American institutions and ideals, from first contact with the New World through the Civil War.Students are introduced to the works of major historians and to various interpretations of American history.

Mode of Instruction: Online Remote: 100% of this course activity is done Online. There are no face-to-face sessions Online or on campus and no requirements for any on-campus activity.

Required Textbook: Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History, Vol 1, Brief 7th ed.

Grading & Evaluation:

Student Learning Outcomes:

The overall objective of this course is to help students analyze the past and relate it to current topics and concerns while developing a basic understanding of United States History from first contact  through the Civil War.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to demonstrate:

1.   an understanding of United States’ society and/or history, including the diversity of individuals and communities that make up the nation;

2.   an understanding of the role of individual participation in US communities and government; and

3.   apply historical and contemporary evidence to draw, support, or verify conclusions.

4.   the ability to write clear and concise essays that exhibit interpretive skill as well as factual knowledge.

LEARNING ACTIVITES:

#1-TEXTBOOK ASSIGNMENTS & QUIZZES:

Every week will start with a quiz on your textbook reading. Your textbook is necessary in order to give you the proper historical background before you begin reading the lectures and articles and

participating in the class discussions.

#2-LECTURES:

Every week introduces new topic with a number of lectures for each topic. Since you will already have been tested on your textbook & articles, your Midterm & Final Exams will focus primarily on these

lectures. Please don't wait until the Exams to read the lectures because you will not be able to make enough sense of them in your 3-hour Exam period.

#3-ARTICLES:

You will read a series of articles throughout the course--one each week. The purpose of many of these articles is to dispel a particular myth about an historical figure or event. It will be your job to decide if  the author has made his/her case. Keep that in mind as you read the articles and bring your own interpretation of the article with you to the discussions.

#4-DISCUSSIONS:

Every week you will participate in a discussion on that week's Article. In these discussions you must answer 2 of my original questions, as well as post 1 comment on one of your classmates’ responses. That makes a minimum of 3 discussion posts for each article that you read.

•    You must make your first 2 responses to my questions by FRIDAY and submit your last post by SUNDAY.

•    All deadlines in this class are at midnight.

•    Your responses in these discussion areas need to cite examples from the articles to back up your opinions.

•    ALL POSTS must be a minimum of 4 sentences long, even the Reply post.

•    You need a NEW piece of information from the ARTICLE in every post.

•    You will need to read your classmates' posts so that you do not repeat their information.

#5-MIDTERM & FINAL EXAMS (TIMED EXAMS: 3 HOURS)

Midterm & Final Exam Questions are included at the end of various modules. These are essay questions you should be preparing as you finish that particular topic. I will be asking you 1 or 2 of these essays in full, but I will also cover the essays that I don't ask you, with several short-answer (2- paragraph) questions.