Course Syllabus

Instructor Information

United States American History

Ronna Williams

Students, 

I am so excited to see you are enrolled in my History class. I will have high expectations, and I know you come through for me every time! Stay up to date with your coursework, and communicate with me. 

Give this course your very best, and I know you will do well. 

I want to see you succeed! So rise and shine! It's back to school time!

I love history! You may find it difficult to believe, but my love for history is contagious! It happens every time I teach it! Let's see if you discover you loved history all along!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Williams

* Before you can do any part of the course, you MUST complete the Orientation.

Contact Availability (time for talk or face-to-face) Week-ends

Email anytime & I will contact by the next day.

Course Information

NEW*

US History I is a 1.0 credit course. Term 1 accounts for the first 0.5 credit of the course and includes Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Term 2 covers the second 0.5 credit of the course and includes Units 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. 

In order to meet the required literacy standards, students will complete an collaborative project in Unit 2 and a indi-vidual research project in Unit 12. The projects are stepped out across several lessons to ensure that stu-dents become fully engaged in the research process and to allow students opportunities to revise, correct their work, and collaborate with one another. Literacy stan-dards will not be fully met unless students complete both of these projects, so they should not be omitted from the course unless a teacher plans to substitute an alternative writing / research project. 

Materials

This course does not require a book. However, it may be beneficial to sometimes print assignments or lessons for review.

You should also come to class prepared with paper, pencil and pens and a jump drive for saving your work. You

should save all work both in your Locker and on your flash drive. It is your responsibility to save and store your work appropriately so that you do not lose any work.

Technical requirements: This course has the following technical requirements:

Internet access (preferably a high-speed connection)

Web browser (preferably Microsoft Internet Explorer)

Sound card and speakers or headphones

Software required:

Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download available at  HY-PERLINK "http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html" \t "_blank"http://www.adobe.com)

Macromedia Flash Player (free download available at  HY-PERLINK "http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" \t "_blank" http://www.macromedia.com)

Windows Media Players (free download available at  HY-PERLINK "http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en" \t "_blank" http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en)

Quicktime Player (free download available at HYPERLINK "http://www.apple.com/"http://www.apple.com)

Microsoft Word (required)

Communication Requirements

I expect you to contact me at least once each week. You need to tell me if you are having trouble or if you are do-ing great. I want to hear from you. There will be some ac-tivities that require you to collaborate (work with) your online classmates. Participation in these online forums is very important. Please make sure you stay up to date on any group discussions. They are graded. Nothing is wasted in this course.

Assessment and Evaluation

Pretest, Quizzes, Discussion, Research and Drop box as-signments make up the methods of evaluation in this course.

Communication and Evaluation

How to communicate: To speak with your teacher pri-vately about grades, administrative matters, content or due dates and deadlines, you will use the D2L email. When communicating with your teacher by D2L email, you should follow all rules of formal writing, including us-ing appropriate capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Do not write informally as if you were in a chat room. This is an academic environment.

You should not use external email accounts to speak with your teacher. All communication should take place within your course.

Grading policy: Subjective assignments will be graded us-ing a rubric or checklist. Written work will be evaluated for content and for quality of writing. The quality of writ-ing should reflect coherent, logical, and carefully edited writing. Each assignment and exam will contribute to the grade earned by a student.

Your overall grade will be calculated based on points earned in a grading period out of points available. You will be assigned a numeric grade by your teacher. Your fi-nal grade will be determined by the grading scale at your home school.

Make-up and late work policy: You will be allowed to make up work missed due to excused absences. No other late work will be accepted.

If you know you will be absent on a certain date and the absence will be excused, you may arrange make-up work with your instructor in advance of your absence. If you are absent and the absence is excused according to your base school's policy, have your onsite mentor contact your teacher about the excused absence. You will have three school days for each day absent to make up any missing work. It is your responsibility to keep up with the current work after you return from being absent. Contact your teacher by course email for instructions on submit-ting late work.

If your absence is not excused by your school, you will not be allowed to make up any of the work missed.

ALABAMA COURSE OF STUDY

UNITED STATES HISTORY TO 1877

10TH GRADE

The study of the history of the United States in Grade 10 takes students on a

journey across five centuries of social, economic, geo-graphic, and political

development in the United States. Students begin with the earliest discoveries on the

North American continent and follow a chronological study of the major events,

issues, movements, leaders, and groups of people of the United States through

Reconstruction from a national and Alabama perspective. The content standards

build upon the foundation students gained in the study of the United States in

Grades 5 and 6, as well as the study of world history in Grades 8 and 9, but require

more rigorous analysis.

1. Contrast the effects of economic, geographic, political, and social conditions before

and after European explorations of the fifteenth trough seventeenth centuries on

Europeans, American colonists, and indigenous Ameri-cans.

1.1. Contrasting European motives for establishing colonies

1.2. Tracing the course of the Columbian Exchange

1.3. Explaining how the institution of slavery developed in the colonies

1.4. Explaining how mercantilism was a motive for colo-nization

2. Compare the various early English settlements and colonies on the basis of geography,

economics, culture, government, and Native American relations.

2.1. Identifying tensions that developed between the colonists and their local

governments and between the colonists and Great Britain

2.2. Describing the influence of the Age of Enlightenment on the colonies

2.3. Explaining the role of the House of Burgesses and New England town meetings

on colonial society

2.4. Describing the impact of the Great Awakening on colonial society

3. Trace the chronology of events leading to the American Revolution, including the French and Indian War, the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts,

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Publication of Common Sense, and the

Declaration of Independence.

3.1. Explaining the role of key leaders and major events of the Revolutionary War

3.2. Summarizing the major ideas, and their origins, in-cluded in the Declaration of

Independence

3.3. Comparing roles in and perspectives of the American Revolution from different

regions and groups in society, including men, women, white settlers, free and

enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans

3.4. Describing reasons for the American victory in the American Revolution

3.5. Contrasting prewar colonial boundaries with those established by the

Treaty of Paris

4. Describe the political system of the United States based on the Constitution and the

Bill of Rights.

4.1. Describing the inadequacies of the Articles of Con-federation

4.2. Describing personalities, issues, ideologies, and compromises related to the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights

4.3. Identifying factors leading to the development and establishment of political

Parties, including Alexander Hamilton’s economic policies and the election of

1800.

5. Identify key cases that helped shape the United States Supreme Court, including

Marbury versus Madison, McCullough versus Maryland, and Cherokee Nation

Versus Georgia.

5.1. Identifying the concepts of loose and strict construc-tionism

6. Describe the relations of the United States with Britain and France from 1781 to 1823,

including the XYZ Affair, the War of 1812, and the Mon-roe Doctrine.

7. Describe the development of a distinct culture within the United States between the

American Revolution and the Civil War, including the im-pact of the Second Great

Awakening and the writings of James Fenimore Cooper, Henry David Thoreau, and

Edgar Allen Poe.

7.1. Tracing the development of temperance, women’s, and other reform movements

in the United States between 1781 and 1861.

7.2. Relating events in Alabama from 1781 to 1823 to those of the developing nation.

7.3. Tracing the development of transportation systems in the United States between

1781 and 1861.

8. Trace the development of efforts to abolish slavery prior to the Civil War. 8.1. Describing the abloition of slavery in most nothern states in the late 18th century

8.2. Describing the rise of religious movements in oppo-sition to slavery, including the

objections of the Quakers

8.3. Describing the impact of the principle of "inalienable rights" as a motivating factor

for movements to oppose slavery

8.4. Describing the founding of the first abolitionist soci-eties by Benjamin Rush and

Benjamin Franklin and the role played by later critics of slavery, including William

Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, Henry David

Thoreau, and Charles Sumner

8.5. Explaining the importance of the Northwest Ordi-nance for banning slavery in new

states north of the Ohio River

8.6. Describing the rise of the underground railroad and its leaders, including Harriet

Tubman and the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

9. Summarize major legislation and court decisions from 1800 to 1861 that led to

increasing sectionalism, including the Missouri Compro-mise of 1820, the Compromise

of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott

decision.

9.1. Describing Alabama's role in the developing section-alism of the United States from

1819 to 1861

9.2. Analyzing Westward Expansion from 1803 to 1861 to determine its effects on

sectionalism, including the Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexation, and the

Mexican Cession.

9.3. Describing the tariff debate and the nullification cri-sis

9.4. Describing the formation of the Republican Party and its effect on the election

of 1860

9.5. Identifying causes leading to the Westward Expan-sion

9.6. Locating on a map the areas affected by the Mis-souri Compromise, the

Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act

10. Describe how the course, character, and effects of the Civil War influenced the

United States.

10.1. Identifying key northern and southern personali-ties, including Abraham Lincoln,

Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and William

T. Sherman.

10.2. Describing the impact of the division of the nation during the Civil War on

resources, population, and transportation

10.3. Explaining reasons for the border states remaining in the Union

10.4. Discussing nonmilitary events and life during the Civil War

10.5. Explaining the causes of the military defeat of the Confederacy

10.6. Explaining Alabama's involvement in the Civil War

11. Contrast congressional and presidential reconstruc-tion plans, including African-American political participa-tion.

11.1. Tracing economic changes in the post-Civil War pe-riod for whites and

African Americans in the North and South, including the effectiveness of the

Freedmen's Bureau.

11.2. Describing the social restructuring of the South

11.3. Describing the Compromise of 1877

11.4. Identifying post-Civil War Constitutional amend-ments

11.5. Discussing causes for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson

General Policies

ADA Statement: In keeping with its mission and in accor-dance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, ACCESS is committed to providing persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from all programs and services conducted or sponsored by AC-CESS. If you need special assistance or have any ques-tions about accommodations, please talk with your in-structor and have your onsite coordinator contact your support center.

Honor Code and Academic Conduct: All acts of dishonesty in work are considered academic misconduct. This in-cludes, but is not limited to

cheating

plagiarism

fabrication of information

abetting any of the above

Plagiarism involves copying the words of any work pub-lished by another person, including text on the internet, and presenting that work as your own.

Any assignment committing plagiarism or other academic misconduct will be assigned a grade of zero with no op-portunity to repeat the assignment. The Academic In-tegrity Policy (page 4 of the student policy manual) will be followed in the event that academic misconduct oc-curs. Students should refer to the  HYPERLINK "http://accessdl.state.al.us/studentspolicies.pdf" \t "_blank" ACCESS Policies – Student Manual if they have any further questions about academic conduct.