509 / 857
Dakota College Course Syllabus
Course Title
: HIST 103 - U.S. History To 1877
Credits
: 3
Instructor
: Aimee Duchsherer
Please use iMail (Moodle course mail) as your first means of communication with me. If this is
impossible for whatever reason, then you may email me at
aimee.duchsherer@dakotacollege.edu.Course Description
:
This course offers students an introduction to the History of the United States from before Native
American contact with Europeans through the end of Reconstruction in 1877. This class will
follow the development of America as a nation, advances in technology, and the varied means by
which Americans met social and economic challenges. Students will be introduced to key events,
people, and trends fundamental to any course in American History. Within and beyond these key
events, this course allows students significant freedom to explore those areas of American
History of greatest interest to them.
Course Objectives:
This course has three objectives. First, students will be able to identify key historical events and
people and the forces surrounding them. In other words, students will have a grasp of the basic
elements of early American History. Second, students will take from this course the many skills
that the study of History provides. Students will learn how to evaluate sources and how to cite
them. Students will learn how to craft a thesis and support it. Third, students will take from this
course the unique preparation a digital course offers for a digital age. More and more work is
done online, and this requires a new kind of professionalism. The ability to assert one's position
in a credible and collegial manner is crucial to communication through electronic media. Proper
grammar is of the utmost importance in establishing one's credibility in a world where the
written word is the primary means of communication as is the case in digital communication.
Particularly in the online world, the written word represents people. This course is designed to
prepare students for working in a digital community.
Texts
:
Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, American Passages: A History of the United States, Vol. 1:
To 1877, 4th Edition, Wadsworth Publishing, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0-547-16631-5.
Free supplemental and primary source materials via the course site.