Course goals and learning outcomes support the Foundational Component Areas defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Course goals are linked to the respective Core Curriculum Competencies: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility. Specific competencies are identified in designated course goals and learning outcomes.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

Create an argument through the use of historical evidence by using appropriate reading, listening, writing, and critical analysis skills by
1. comprehending text materials and other documents;
2. demonstrating an understanding of lectures, presentations, and film;
3. preparing written work as assigned.
Analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources by
1. comprehending primary and secondary sources as part of a larger understanding of the discipline of history and how historians work;
2. demonstrating an understanding of various interpretations of specified historical events.
Analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces on this period of United States history by
1. identifying the causes of the American colonial independence movement of the 1770s;
2. tracing the development of the United States government from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution;
3. describing the growth and evolution of the United States government from the adoption of the Constitution through the Civil War and Reconstruction;
4. describing the development of political parties in the United States;
5. tracing the territorial growth of the United States through 1876;
6. contrasting the agrarian economy of the United States prior to 1800 with the emerging industrialized economy of the first half of the nineteenth century.
Demonstrate an understanding of the social growth and development of the United States during this period by
1. describing the trans-Atlantic slave trade and American slavery from colonial times to the outbreak of the Civil War;
2. identifying various immigrant groups in colonial America and the early United States and their contributions to American culture;
3. summarizing the societal and cultural impact of eighteenth and nineteenth century social movements such as the First and Second Great Awakenings, American independence, industrialization, the women’s rights movement, and the abolition movement.
Demonstrate an understanding of how history is related to other disciplines by
1. comprehending the relationship of history to economics;
2. comprehending the relationship of history to sociology;
3. comprehending the relationship of history to psychology;
4. comprehending the relationship of history to literature;
5. comprehending the relationship of history to philosophy;
6. comprehending the relationship of history to the arts;
7. comprehending the relationship of history to other relevant disciplines.
Demonstrate an understanding of the United States’ place in a global society, both historically and as a prelude for understanding both the present and the future by
1. explaining the motivations for European colonization of the New World;
2. explaining how colonization affected the Native American populations of the continent;
3. describing the political and diplomatic development of the early republic and the significance of these developments on succeeding events;
4. explaining the concept of Manifest Destiny as it has shaped the geography of the United States and the American character;
5. identifying the causes and results of major United States conflicts during this period of history;
6. explaining the nature of relationships between the United States and other nations during this period of history;
7. tracing the events from 1850 to 1861 that led the United States into the Civil War;
8. describing Presidential and Congressional reconstruction and the impact on the South in particular and the nation as a whole.
Critical Thinking Skills: Demonstrate critical thinking skills by
1. reading, analyzing, and critiquing historical documents;
2. demonstrating knowledge of major arguments and problems in history;
3. discussing well-reasoned historical arguments;
4. explaining how competing approaches within the discipline are evaluated.
Communication Skills: Demonstrate communication skills by
1. defining and appropriately using important historical terms;
2. explaining different interpretations of historical events;
3. presenting and discussing well-reasoned positions in oral, written, or visual form.
Social Responsibility: Demonstrate social responsibility by
1. discussing the importance of presenting differing views of historical events and figures;
2. identifying opposing sides of events in history and understanding the accounts of all sides in major events.
Personal Responsibility: Demonstrate personal responsibility by
1. applying a historical perspective to the world we live in;
2. recognizing how history has impacted various groups of people in different ways.

HIST 1301

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HIST 1301 - United States History I