Reading Schedule
Dates | Assignments
Discussion Board
The Discussion Board postings in Blackboard work with your reading assignments. In fact, discussion board postings comprise ten percent (10%) of your class grade for a total of 100 points (see grading scheme page). DB posting points will depend not on the number of postings only but the quality of your postings. You should try to post at least three intelligent postings per week.
Each week, you will find topics that closely align with topics in your textbook readings. In fact, some of the points to remember listed on this page by weeks may be duplicated as discussion board topics. In addition, students are invited to submit topics for the discussion board. The class will be more interesting if the members of the class took some control over topics they find interesting, collectively. Please do not hesitate to contact the instructor with topic suggestions. Be sure that the questions will provoke good discussions and analyses.
Week I Chapter 10:
2 - 4 April (Weekend of 5 - 6 april):
Chapter 10 - Republicans in Power, 1800-1824: Map exercises:
Chapter 10 Map 1
Chapter 10 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Hallmarks of the Election of 1800.
- Justification for the Louisiana Purchase.
- The relationship amongst the US, France, and Great Britain.
- Marriage and the doctrine of feme covert.
- Tallmadge Amendment.
N.B. Your citation exercise is due at the end of next week.
Week II Chapters 11 - 12:
7 - 11 April (Weekend of 12 - 13 April)
*Chapter 11 - The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840: Map exercises:
Chapter 11 Map 1
Chapter 11 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- The affects of transportation on the development of the US economically, politically, and socially.
- Hallmarks of the presidential campaign of 1828.
- Relationships between men and women in the Jacksonian era.
- Second Great Awakening.
- Doctrine of nullification.
Chapter 12 - The New West and Free North, 1840-1860: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 12 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Lifestyles of the Great Plains Indians.
- Manifest Destiny.
- Manufacturing, industry, and mechanization.
N.B. First citation exercise is due by week's end. Begin thinking about possible paper topics; topic selection/outline due 25 January.
Week III Chapters 12 - 13:
14 - 18 April (Weekend of 19 - 20 April)
Chapter 12 - The New West and Free North, 1840-1860: Map Exercise 2:
Chapter 12 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Free-labor ideal.
- Differences between white and black abolitionists.
Chapter 13 - The Slave South, 1820-1860: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 13 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Southern efforts to diversify the economy.
- Miscegination and reality.
- The antebellum slave family.
N.B. EXAM COMING UP. Dates: 26 - 28 April. Also, Citation Exercise Part 2 is due at week's end.
Week IV Chapters 13 - 14:
21 - 25 April (Weekend of 26 - 27 April)
Chapter 13 - The Slave South, 1820-1860: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 13 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Attitudes of upcountry yeomen of the South.
- Differences between Whig and Democratic parties.
Chapter 14 - The House Divided, 1846-1861: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 14 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Wilmot Proviso.
- Compromise of 1850.
- Attributes of the 1852 presidential election.
N.B. Your topic selection/outline is due at week's end.
Week V 28 January - 2 May (Weekend of 3 - 4 May): Chapters 14 - 15:
Chapter 14 - The House Divided, 1846-1861: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 14 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Kansas-Nebraska Act.
- Popular sovereignty.
Chapter 15 - The Crucible of War, 1861-1865: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 15 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Pattern of secession.
- Advantages of the South in the conflict.
- Importance of the Western theatre to the Civil War.
N.B. First rough draft is due at week's end.
Week VI Chapters 15 - 16:
5 - 9 May (Weekend of 10 - 11 May)
Chapter 15 - The Crucible of War, 1861-1865: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 15 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What exactly did the Emancipation Proclamation state?
- The 1863 Draft Law.
Chapter 16 - Reconstruction, 1863-1877: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 16 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Lincoln's "Ten-percent Plan."
- The black codes.
- Congressional Reconstruction.
N.B. EXAM COMING UP. Date TBD. Be prepared.
Week VII Chapters 16 - 17:
12 - 16 May (Weekend of 17 - 18 May)
Chapter 16 - Reconstruction, 1863-1877: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 16 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
- The Supreme Court and the decline of Reconstruction.
Chapter 17 - The Contested West, 1870-1900: Map exercise:
Chapter 17 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Social Darwinism.
- The Fourteenth Amendment and corporations.
N.B. Second rough draft is due at week's end.
Week VIII Chapters 17 - 18:
19 - 23 May (Weekend of 24 - 25 May)
Chapter 17 - The Contested West, 1870-1900: No map.
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- The Gilded Age.
- Factionalism within the Republican party.
- The gold standard - pros and cons.
Chapter 18 - Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1895: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 18 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Technology and silver mining.
- Western migration.
- Changes in American farming.
N.B. EXAM COMING UP. Date TBD. Be prepared.
Week IX Chapters 18 - 19:
26 - 30 May (Weekend of 31 May - 1 June)
Chapter 18 - Chapter 18 - Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1895: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 18 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Hispanic peoples in Texas, the Southwest, and California.
- Indian policy and reservations.
Chapter 19 - the City and Its Workers, 1870-1900: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 19 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Discrepancy between low wages but high demand for laborers.
- Affects of technology and demographics on urban centers.
- Differences between the Knights of Labor and the AFL.
N.B. Third rough draft is due at week's end.
Week X Chapters 19 - 20:
2 - 6 June (Weekend of 7 - 8 June)
Chapter 19 - The City and Its Workers, 1870-1900: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 19 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Cult of Domesticity and leisure.
- Machine politics.
Chapter 20 - Dissent, Depression, and War, 1890-1900: Map exercise 1:
Chapter 20 Map 1
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- The Farmers' Alliance.
- Striking workforce.
- Suffragettes and Women's Temperance Union.
- "Fusion" and politics.
- Open Door Policy and the Monroe Doctrine.
N.B. FINAL EXAM COMING UP. Date TBD. Be prepared. Final papers are due next week.
Week XI Chapter 20 and Review:
9 - 12 June
Chapter 20 - Dissent, Depression, and War, 1890-1900: Map exercise 2:
Chapter 20 Map 2
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- "Fusion" and politics.
- Open Door Policy and the Monroe Doctrine.
*Review and Organize.
- Review, review, review.
- Check the Discussion Board postings. Be sure that you have contributed your own postings - it is not enough to read the postings, the postings are most beneficial if one thinks, writes, and posts original thoughts.
- Your research paper should be nearly complete. In the past, there have been students who have already submitted their final versions.
- By this point in the term, you should feel more confident in your ability to express your conclusions and support them with logical and well-documented/cited arguments.
N.B. FINAL EXAM THIS WEEK. Be prepared. Final papers are due.
*Important Dates to Remember |
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| Examinations | ||
| 21-27 April: | Exam I | |
| 12-18 May: | Midterm | |
| 26-31 May: | Exam III | |
| 9-12 June: | Final | |
Documentation/Research Assignments: |
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| Friday, 11 April: | Citation Exercise Part 1 due | |
| Friday, 18 April: | Citation Exercise Part 2 due | |
| Friday, 25 April: | Paper Topic Selection due | |
| Friday, 02 May: | Rough Draft I due | |
| Friday, 16 May: | Rough Draft II due | |
| Friday, 30 May: | Rough Draft III due | |
| Thursday, 12 June 23:59:59 p.m.: | Final Paper due | |
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