This course is an introductory survey of United States history aimed at students who are new to college or new to the college-level study of history. Besides providing a clear chronology of events and explaining their historical significance, this course will provide opportunities to develop a variety of skills. All students in History 1700 will be exposed to the diversity of historical experiences and to the difficulty of interpreting the past. Successful completion of this course will fulfill basic degree and graduation requirements, including the American Government and Institutions Requirement, and you will gain a firm foundation for further study in history and related fields. Please note that this college-level history course demands your active involvement, persistence, and discipline.

History 1700 has been structured to follow in sequential order, from Chapter 1 through the last chapter of the textbook, with seven section exams that correspond with major sections or parts of the textbook. Your reading and course work will follow the basic chronological order of American history. As you work through the course materials, try to build upon what you learn and apply “lessons from the past” to your understanding of more recent and contemporary events. This course follows a modified self-paced schedule, so you must be focused and diligent to finish all course work by the end of this term. Because this is a 1000-level course and it is vital that students realize its vigor, students must complete the first two units (that includes Achieve (Launchpad) chapter exercises and Exam I & II) within the six weeks of class (see Assignments for due dates). All the rest of written Assignments & Exams are due toward the end of the semester in which you are enrolled. Please check due dates as posted on the Assignments/Exams.

The required textbook is available for purchase through the SUU Bookstore: Rebecca Edwards et al., Achieve for America's History, ISBN: 9781319480966R180. This is the “combined” volume. Please go to the SUU Bookstore site for information and to purchase the text. We have secured a deal with the publisher to have "instant access" to this book through the SUU Bookstore. Students will need to purchase the book this way so please do not buy a used book online because it will not be up to date.

Achieve is an integrated learning tool designed to provide interactive, engaged learning of material covered in each textbook chapter. It is part of the Ebook for the course described above. Achive has quizzes that are intuitive meaning that when a person answers a question correctly, the subsequent questions are incrementally more analytical and/or detailed. If a student gets an answer wrong, he/she can choose several options, including "Read Chapter Section", "Get a Hint," etc. that will help guide them to the correct response. Being interactive and designed so students can seek answers themselves, Launchpad provides a "substitute" classroom in an online learning environment. Students work toward achieving a "Target" score for each chapter and can have as much time and as many tries as they need to achieve goals. Once a student achieves the "Target" score they will receive full credit for the assignment.

• Learners will utilize chronological thinking to place the history of the United States in proper chronological framework.
• SUU ELO: "Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World." Students demonstrate knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in fine arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, life and physical sciences.
• Learners will develop historical comprehension, identify central questions of each time period, and draw upon data presented in text, maps, charts, and graphs.
• GE ELO: "Civic Engagement": students demonstrate that they possess the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference in the civic life of their community and to promote the enhancement of the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political processes.
• GE ELO: "Information Literacy": students identify, locate, evaluate, attribute and share information effectively and ethically
• Learners will be able to make historical analysis and interpretations, to compare and contrast, to differentiate historical facts and interpretations, consider multiple perspectives, analyze cause and effect relationships, compare competing historical analyses, and recognize the tentative nature of historical interpretations.
• Learners will develop an ability to construct their own historical interpretations.
• Learners will be able to identify main issues and problems in United States history, and will be able to evaluate historical evidence and interpretations.
• Learners will develop historical understanding of the social, political, economic, and cultural developments in the United States from approximately 1500 to the present.

Because this is a self-paced course, the grading and examinations will reward your persistence and diligence in moving consistently and sequentially through all course materials. You are encouraged to work at a steady and systematic pace to finish all required work by the course deadline.

Grade/Assignment Percentages:

• Achieve Assessments: 30%
  30 Achieve Assessments; lowest 10 scores dropped
• Exams: 30%
  7 Exams; lowest 2 scores dropped
• Written Assignments: 40%
  2 Analytical Primary Sources Paper
  1 Group Presentation over Historical Monuments Controversies
  5-7 Short writing/thought papers

Section Exams

You should read the chapters in sequential order to best prepare for the seven (7) section exams that correspond with the seven parts of America, A Concise History. Each of the seven tests will feature the same format and will consist of thirty (30) multiple-choice questions that will draw upon all material covered during that part of the course. Each question will be worth one point. These exams will be timed. Exams are closed book. Please see the Honor Code at SUU. Questions from chapter quizzes and from the companion web site may appear on the section exams. Although some questions will test your factual knowledge and others probe your analytical abilities, all questions will require critical thinking more than mere memorization. As with the chapter quizzes, your preparation in reading the textbook and utilizing the publisher’s web site will shape success in the section exams. Students can drop their 2 lowest test scores; Canvas Grade Book is set up to automatically do so.

Short Written Assignments

Through several critical thinking papers, you will be required to submit responses about different types of historical issues, themes, sources, and information. Your completed assignments will be submitted to your instructor via a plagiarism detection web site that is integrated with the Canvas LMS.

Submitting Written Assignments

Your written work submitted for this course should be typed and follow the standard rules of grammar, punctuation, and English usage. For all written assignments, try to write in your own words, but if you wish to quote from course materials or other sources, please place all quoted material in quotation marks and add a page reference or citation in parentheses at the end of that sentence. Do not plagiarize, and be aware that you are expected to submit original and independent work by all deadlines. All work will be submitted through a plagiarism detection software package. Feel free to be imaginative in exploring the questions asked in this course, and ask questions if you are unclear about assignments or expectations.

Written & Group Assignments

Small Group Research and Presentation Project:

Please see Canvas for signups, in-depth project description, and due dates. This project will entail group and teamwork. Small groups (assigned by the professor) will plan and execute a group presentation on a current controversy over historical monuments, historical names, and similar issues that make the news today. Students will research the historical controversy, develop a presentation presenting the various sides to the controversy, and disseminate the results to the class. More details will be provided during the semester.

Two Primary Source Analytical Papers: SUU E.L.O. 4.0 “Critical Thinking”

Please see tab in Canvas for specifics.

There are two papers that assess students’ critical thinking abilities per SUU E.L.O. 4.0. It states: “Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information." It also includes the critical explanation of issues, comprehensive analysis of evidence, analysis of others' assumptions about the complexities of issues, and the logical reflection about and evaluation of evidence and perspectives in order to form conclusions.

Paper Requirements:

Students will write TWO 3-4 page, double-spaced paper, in Times New Roman 12 point font, over ONE topic of their choosing that centers on primary sources (first hand accounts, legal documents, speeches, newspaper articles, diaries, etc.). Students are encouraged to exceed the page minimum if arguments require more pages.

Organization: For this paper students must use headings. They must follow the Sample Outline/Model below:

Do not include a heading with your name, class, date, as Canvas makes clear who is submitting this paper

Introductory Paragraph:

This section should tell the reader what the paper is about, noting your main argument (thesis) and your conclusions on how first-hand accounts (primary documents) add to our understanding of the topic you choose.

<double space>

Heading #1

<double space>

Heading #2

<double space>

Heading #3

<double space>

Heading #4

<double space>

Heading #6 (if included)

<double space>

Conclusion

Do not include a bibliography, footnotes, or other forms of noting your primary sources; please just cite as the above examples indicate

Please see the Assignment Tab for potential topics. You can choose your own topic, but these topics are ones that the professor has vetted to make sure there are enough primary sources in the book to cover them adequately.

Students should choose SIX primary sources from the textbook. All primary sources must come from this book or links found within it. Primary sources are documents or other works produced by people of the past. They provide important first-hand “voices” of people who lived through important events and/or historical developments of history.

3. The only primary sources students can use for this paper are found in several sections of each textbook chapter. These sources are in boxes/sections entitled:

• "My Story"
• "Americana"
• "Defining American"
• "Click and Explore"

These boxes contain links to various web sites, however, not all of these sites contain primary sources. Students can use primary sources found on these various sites, just make sure you are using primary sources and not other writings, essay, images, other resources found on each site.

4. Papers must focus upon one event or issue that was important to U.S. history. In the past, some students have written a paper that dealt with six different topics. Please do not do so for this paper. Students should feel free to choose an event or historical issue/development that interests them. For example, if you are interested in indigenous-European (and American) relations, there are many primary documents on this large issue. If you are interested in the Cold War, there are many primary sources dealing with this large world conflict. Likewise, there are many documents where women of the past argued for women's equality.

4. Using SIX primary sources (first-hand accounts) found within the textbook, write an essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion, addressing these questions:

1. How does this first hand account or other document produced at the time tell us about how people viewed an issue or event important to their times?
2. What kind of stories, arguments and/or view points did this person present?
3. How did this document add more personal detail or "flavor" to the issue under review compared to the textbook?

5. Make sure to quote directly from the sources being utilized. For all six of the sources you use must include a quote. After including a source, make sure to analyze its contents.

6. While the introduction to each source can be utilized for background information, please do not quote this material.

Formatting Requirements:

• Papers must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font.
• Margins must be 1” top-bottom, left-right.
• Citations must be in the following format. Please follow the examples below for full credit:

Citation Requirements:

For this paper please only use this citation format:

Ex. A

Christopher Columbus displayed many common European stereotypes about non-European, non-white people of the 15th century. His writings reveal a pervasive sense of European cultural and technological superiority. As he wrote to officials in Spain in 1493, "They have no iron, nor steel, nor weapons, nor are they fit for them, because although they are well-made men of commanding stature, they appear extraordinarily timid. The only arms they have are sticks of cane, cut when in seed, with a sharpened stick at the end, and they are afraid to use these." (Ch. 2, "Columbus's Probanza de merito of 1493") Here Columbus presents the native people of the Caribbean Islands as lacking technology comparable to European firearms and warships, with a clear message that they could be easily conquered and put to work.

Ex. B

European religious dissenters proved important to the colonization of North America. In the early sixteenth century, Martin Luther, a priest from modern Germany, started a movement called the Protestant Reformation. This great movement spawned most of the religious dissenter groups that immigrated to America. His main protest was against the abuses of the entrenched, Roman Catholic Church in Europe. He was against many of its practices such as the Pope selling forgiveness or "indulgences." As Luther wrote, "Papal indulgences for the building of St. Peter's are circulating under your most distinguished name, and as regards them, I do not bring accusation against the outcries of the preachers, which I have not heard, so much as I grieve over the wholly false impressions which the people have conceived from them; to wit, -- the unhappy souls believe that if they have purchased letters of indulgence they are sure of their salvation; again, that so soon as they cast their contributions into the money-box, souls fly out of purgatory; furthermore, that these graces [i.e., the graces conferred in the indulgences] are so great that there is no sin too great to be absolved." (Ch. 2, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, "Martin Luther: Letter to Archbishop of Mainz, 1517")