Announcements/Assignment Updates
25 February 2013: The final exam will be one week from today at 5:30 PM. The format will be exactly the same as the mid-term. The time limit will be the same: one hour and fifteen minutes. As your syllabus notes, the final exam is cumulative/comprehensive, covering the material covered by the mid-term as well as the information since the mid-term. Because of difficulties with the textbook, I will ask no questions from it. In addition to the handouts I've recommended below, I also strongly recommend these five: The Coming of the Civil War; A military outline of the U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865; The United States and World War I, 1917-1918; The United States and the Coming of World War II; and The United States in World War II, 1941-1945. Depending on how far we get in tonight's class, I may add to this recommended list.
14 February 2013: There will be no further beginning-of-class quizzes.
5 February 2013: For your paper conferences, I'll be meeting you under the stairway inside the main lobby of Stetson.
For those of you who have expressed frustration with the class and the amount of material, the following links may be helpful, but they aren't required. 1) How to Study History Terms; 2) Note Taking Strategies; 3) Preparing for Exams; 4) Memorizing Dates. Although dates can be important, as you're studying, focus heavily on why things happened the way they did, not just what happened. For instance, don't see the American Revolution as being just a group of things like the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. See it instead as a reaction to what the British were doing as a result of the French and Indian War, and how the revolution in turn caused Americans to be very twitchy about national governments that have too much power over them, especially when it comes to taxation and commercial regulation. Then use the specific things like the Stamp Act and Boston Tea Party to illustrate those big ideas. If you do that, then you should find that you can remember and understand the specific things more easily. I normally try to be extremely clear in class about what I think these relationships are, so let that be your guide. (For instance, if you didn't immediately key into the word "twitchy" above, which I have used incessantly in that context, then you haven't been paying enough attention to the right things in class.)
Finally, I know that most of you have full-time jobs and busy lives that make studying particularly hard, and I've tried to work with that. But this is still a college-level course, which means that there are limits to what adustments I can make to the course. Please keep in mind that I am always avalable for consultation.
30 January 2013: As I said in class Monday, the mid-term will not, repeat, not cover the textbook. In addition to your class notes, I strongly recommend studying the following three documents, which provide good outlines of various parts of the course: 1) The American Revolution, 1763-1775 2) The Federalists and Foreign Policy, 1789-1801 and 3) The Coming of the War of 1812
28 January 2013: here is a sample exam for you to peruse. Don't freak out if you don't recognize some of the questions; we haven't covered all of the material yet. The purpose of this sample exam is simply to show you the format and the basic type of questions you'll be dealing with.
16 January 2013: Here's an excellent example of why correct punctuation matters. Pleae keep this in mind when writing and proofreading your papers.
15 January 2013: You should have chosen a book by now from the Reading List and Paper Instructions. Also, read the instructions in that document very carefully when writing your report. Read and refer to Strunk and Whit'e Elements of Style while writing your report. You may also find my Tips for Proper English useful.
Also, I've been informed that our permanent classroom will be Stetson 261.
Reading List and Paper Instructions
Map: The Geography of Eastern North America
Link to map: North America at the beginning of the French and Indian War
Major Wars in North America, 1607-1763
The American Revolution, 1763-1775
Edmund Burke, Speech on Conciliation with the North American Colonies
George Washington on recruiting and maintaining an army
A chart of American constitutional government
The U.S. Constitution: National security and foreign affairs provisions
The Federalists and Foreign Policy, 1789-1801
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson on the French Alliance, 1793
The following materials are all post-mid-term:
Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon on Louisiana
The United States and Continental Expansion, 1789-1850
A comparison of the Dred Scott case and Roe v. Wade
Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, 1861
"All we ask is to be let alone": Jefferson Davis's Confederate Constitutional Address, 1861
A military outline of the U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865
A chart of basic Civil War army organization
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, 1865
American Expamsion into the Pacific Rim, 1850-1898
World War I: Trench Warfare, 1914-1918
An overview of World War I, with timeline (from History Department, USMA
World War I: The Western Front (from History Department, USMA)
World War I: Poetry from the Western Front, 1914-1918
The United States and World War I, 1917-1918
The United States and the Coming of World War II
Japanese Strategy in World War II
The Pearl Harbor Raid: Background and Pictures (highly recommended but not required)
World War II: European Theater
The United States in World War II, 1941-1945
The following materials won't be covered on the final exam:
Article on the Vietnam Conflict