American History

  merican History seeks to help CLRC students understand what it means to be a part of the United States by teaching them about the “Land of the Free,” including the history of, and historical role of, the people, places, events, and ideas which have made this nation possible. The goal is to actively interact with the past, to learn how we inherited this great land, and how to truly be part of it. 

This course will cover the common stories that make up the American experience, but it is also a study of human behavior, cause and effect. Lectures, primary sources, and mapping activities will be employed as well as simulations, presentations and class discussions to bring the past to life once again.

This two-semester course will begin pre-Christopher Columbus and runs through Reconstruction in the Fall and picks up with Reconstruction through Reagan in the Spring. There will also be some closing activities and videos available to bring the content up to today. In addition to the class meetings which occur twice weekly, there will be three assignments per week that will take 30-60 minutes each to complete.

Key events will include pre-Columbus America, Colonial America, Revolutionary War, Manifest Destiny, Jacksonian Democracy, American Civil War, Reconstruction, industrialization, American imperialism, immigration, progressive era reforms, the World Wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, Korean and Vietnam Wars, U.S. involvement in the Middle East, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and 21st century America. Themes will include government, economics, geography, changes in technology, diversity, conflicts, and American identity.