Modern American History – Outcomes

Course Description: This course takes students from Reconstruction, post Civil War, through the election of President Obama (1865 – 2009). Students will learn about America’s modern history by using online AP and college course materials. The information is presented in readings and video lectures; students will respond with written work. Students will interact with numerous primary sources and be charged with creating effective policy decisions. Students will be challenged to evaluate contradictory information about historic events and will learn to become independent thinkers.

Reading List: sageamericanhistory.net, apstudynotes.org, Saylor’s HIST 212 course  are just some places where readings are from; there is a large number of readings from many sources. There is a focus on primary sources including speeches, Supreme Court opinions, letters, photographs, maps, and interviews.

Students will demonstrate the following abilities:

  • Identify and describe historical phenomena
  • Analyze and interpret historical phenomena
  • Compare and contrast historical phenomena

The following themes are reflected in a comprehensive introductory survey course:

  • The impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the South
  • The motivations and character of American expansionism
  • The content of constitutional amendments and their interpretations by the United States Supreme Court
  • The changing nature of agricultural life
  • The development of American political parties
  • The emergence of regulatory and welfare state legislation
  • The intellectual and political expressions of liberalism, conservatism, and other such movements
  • Long-term demographic trends
  • The process of economic growth and development
  • The changing occupational structure, nature of work and labor organization
  • Immigration and the history of racial and ethnic minorities
  • Urbanization and industrialization
  • The causes and impacts of major wars in American histor
  • Major movements and individual figures in the history of American arts and letters
  • Trends in the history of women and the family