HIS 150 - U.S. History to 1877

1. Contrast various Native American cultures in terms of religion, attitudes toward the environment, and culture
   1. Appraise the conflicting aspects of Native American and European culture
   2. Assess the impact of the Europeans on Native American culture
2. Differentiate among the patterns of settlement of the European powers after 1492
   1. Summarize the locations of colonization of the European coun­tries
   2. Assess the affects on those areas of European colonization in terms of political and economic systems, religious traditions, societal and cultural values
   3. Conclude as to the consequences of the lateness of English and French coloni­zation in the New World
3. Outline, specifically, the patterns of English settlement after 1607
   1. Differentiate among the various regions of the English colonies
   2. Explain the differences among the English colonies in terms of economic basis, political systems, religious preferences
   3. Describe the major features of social life in the colonies focusing on the family and the role of women
   4. Interpret the importance of such early political mile­stones as the Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
   5. Identify specifically the economic bases of the various regions of the America colonies such as commerce in New England and agriculture in the South
   6. Dissect the various motives behind emigration from Europe
   7. Outline the theory and the operation of mercantilism as an over­all; economic system, including the Navigation Acts
   8. Relate the early advent of slavery and the development of the plantation system, its economic and social implica­tions in coloni­al America
   9. Appraise the conflicts and contrasts in intellectual and religious life in colonial America including the implica­tions of the Great Awakening and the Enlighten­ment
4. Examine the various “wars of empire” in the late-1600s and early-1700s and the circumstances which led to the Revolutionary War
   1. Investigate the impact of England’s “new imperial policy” on the colonials after 1763, including the passage of the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Boston Tea Party, and the Intolerable Acts
   2. Analyze the concept of revolution, its prerequisites, and our founding fathers’ role in it
   3. Evaluate the causes of the Revolutionary War
   4. Contrast the advantages and disadvantages of both sides going into the Revolu­tionary War
   5. Summarize the major strategies and battles of the Revolu­tionary War
   6. Distinguish the major provisions of the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution
   7. Examine the main political, religious, social, and econom­ic consequences of the American Revolution
   8. Defend the assertion that the War was one of independence and not a revolu­tion
5. Analyze the political and constitutional developments and issues in the early national period
   1. Compare the types of state governments set up after the Revolu­tion
   2. Contrast the government under the Articles of Confedera­tion with the govern­ment under the Constitution
   3. Analyze the basic concepts included in the Articles and compare its innate conservatism with the radicalism of the Constitution
   4. Investigate the various political, economic, religious, and social issues which were dealt with during the Federal­ists and Republi­can periods. 5.5 Trace the early development of the two-party sys
   5. Explain the major changes that took place as the Republi­cans came into power in 1801 and relate this to national policy
   6. Reconstruct the circumstances and issues that led to the War of 1812 and judge its consequences
   7. Justify the assertion that nationalism was triumphant in the period after the War of 1812
   8. Identify the prerequisites of industrialization and show America’s developments in that direction
   9. Illustrate the constitutional nationalism of the Supreme Court under John Marshall
6. Explain the events and developments of the antebellum period in terms of their significance to North-South relations
   1. Relate the Missouri Compromise to the issue of westward expan­sion and slavery
   2. Examine the rise of Jacksonian politics, expansion of the elector­ate and the election of Andrew Jackson
   3. Explain the distribution of wealth in the United States in the era of the com­mon man
   4. Identify the issues of Jackson’s presidency, especially the nullifi­cation contro­versy, and relate them to their significance in nation­al politics
   5. Criticize the claim that Jackson wanted a “just and liberal policy” toward the Indians
   6. Trace the rise of the Whigs and the return to a two-party system
   7. Explain the importance of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun in early-nineteenth-century American politics
   8. Evaluate the term “manifest destiny” and the events which led to it completion of it during the 1840s up to and in­cluding the Mexican War
   9. Assess the significance of the Compromise of 1850, espe­cially as it relates to the slavery issue
   10. Explain the shaping of a national economy during the ante­bellum years, including the significance commercial, agricultural, and early manufacturing sectors
   11. Relate the various reform movements before the Civil War, includ­ing educa­tional reform, the temperance movement, the early women’s movement, and the abolition movement
   12. Compare the North and the South in economic, social, and political terms, focusing on angry abolitionism and the South’s defense of slavery
   13. Discuss the romantic movement, identifying various liter­ary figures and their importance
7. Explain the various events of the 1850s which would lead to the Civil War
   1. Identify the importance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the formation of the Republican party
   2. Evaluate the Dred Scott decision in terms of its constitu­tional reasoning
   3. Relate the Lincoln-Douglas debates to their national im­portance beyond Illinois
   4. Explain how the circumstances of the 1860 presidential election “led” to the beginning of the Civil War
   5. Recapitulate the early secessions during the months before Lin­coln took office
8. Evaluate the Civil War in terms of its causes, the military strat­egies involved and its major consequences
   1. Measure the relative strengths and weaknesses of each side as well as their respective war aims, logistics, and mili­tary strategies
   2. Analyze the early battles with the goal of understanding the difficulty Lincoln experienced in the early days
   3. Examine the “home front” on both sides during the war so as to understand its relative effects
   4. Define the statement that Lincoln’s Emancipation Procla­mation emancipated no slaves
   5. Measure the various human, economic, political, social, and psychological costs of the Civil War
9. Explain the major issues and consequences of Reconstruction after the Civil War
   1. Assess the important constitutional, political, and other issues presented by Reconstruction
   2. Compare presidential and Radical Reconstruction in terms of their goals, methods, and consequences
   3. Evaluate President Johnson’s performance during the early phases of presiden­tial Reconstruction
   4. Relate the circumstances surrounding the impeachment of Presi­dent Johnson to their constitutional and political importance
   5. Explain the election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877 in terms of how Reconstruction was ended
   6. Evaluate the long-term political, constitutional, econom­ic, and social conse­quences of Reconstruction