Welcome to Bridge Year. More to the point, welcome to History 103: From Exploration of America to 1877. This course will serve as your History credit for the Bridge Year program. Undoubtedly, many of you are entering this course with some preconceived notion as to what “history” is and how a history course typically “works.” It probably goes something like this: history is a collection of names, dates, and facts. My job as the teacher is to tell you about those things and your job as the student is to remember as much of information as you can in the proper order. Hopefully, this course will explode that misconception.
First, we need to review the nuts and bolts. The links directly below serve as our course syllabus. Each link contains information regarding the course design, expectations and policies, grading, etc. Be sure you familiarize yourself with this information.
Course Introduction and Design
Required Materials and Resources
Course Expectations and Policies
Grading
Contact Info
Continuing, this next set of links is probably the most important section of the site: our Unit Calendars. Within these links are sub-links, which are organized by date. When you want to know about a particular class — readings or assignments due, the lesson plan, etc. — simply click on the date for that meeting. It’s my intention to keep as detailed a log as I can for class for your convenience. On occasion I’m sure I’ll fall behind or forget to add something. If you notice a gaffe or are unsure of something, please contact me as soon as possible.
UNIT CALENDARS
Intro to History (Aug 31 – Sept 11)
Ch. 4: The Northern Colonies, 1601-1700 (Sept 26 – Oct 9)
Ch. 3: The Southern Colonies, 1601-1700 (Oct 11 – Oct 23)
Ch. 5: Colonial America in the Eighteenth Century, 1701-1770 (Oct 25 – Nov 6)
Ch. 6: The British Empire and the Colonial Crisis, 1754-1775 (Nov 8 – Nov 27)
Ch. 7: The War for America, 1775-1783 (Nov 29 – Dec 13)
Ch. 8: Building a Republic, 1775-1789 (Dec 17-Jan 7)
Journals: First Collection, Chapters 3-7 (Dec 19!)
Essay #1: Competing Choices on Ratification of the Constitution (Due: TBA)
Ch. 9: The New Nation Takes Form, 1789-1800 (Feb 1 – Feb 13)
Ch. 10: Republicans in Power, 1800-1824 (Feb 15-Mar 6)
Ch. 11: The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840 (Mar 8- Mar 20)
Ch. 13: The Slave South, 1820-1860 (Mar 26 – Apr 1)
Ch. 12: The New West and Free North, 1840-1860 (Apr 3 – Apr 11)
Ch. 14: The House Divided, 1846-1861 (Apr 22 – May 2)
Journals: Second Collection, Chapters 11-14 (Due: Thursday, April 11)
Essay #2: Historiography and the Civil War (Due: May 10)
Ch. 15: The Crucible of War, 1861-1865 (May 14 – Jun 3)
Ch. 16: Reconstruction, 1863-1877 (Jun 4 – Jun 6)
Journals: Third Collection, Chapter 15 *OPTIONAL COLLECTION* (Due: Monday, June 10)
Essay #3: Reconstruction: Assessing the Decisions (Due: Monday, June 17)
PROJECT
1) Republicans in Power: Super-slide Presentations
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