The American Studies course has been developed in concert with the English Department as an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the American past. Students cogently identify and synthesize themes in American political and social history as well as their relationship with popular aesthetic expressions, techniques and authorship of the same historical time period. The course differs from a typical United States History course as historical and literary subject matter are often investigated and studied in a topical as opposed to chronological and linear manner. Students will be able to recognize and evaluate the historical, cultural and personal perspective of several historical and literary sources through class discussion, oral presentations and written research. American Studies also differs from the typical United States History course as a team teaching approach is emphasized with opportunities for large group instruction through the use of schedule blocking as well as small group instruction through activities and simulations.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• How does the balance between ideology (hope, goals, and dreams) and reality (melancholy, actuality) influence our sense of what it means to be American?
• How does diversity, and the cultural frame through which we view it, shape our knowledge of society and our interactions with others?
• How do we maintain our sense of self—and its unique needs—while contributing productively to the needs of a broader democratic society?
• What political, economic, social, cultural and religious forces motivate Americans, and how do they affect the decisions we make in our nation?
• How does our immersion in the study of history, literature and the arts assist in constructing and modifying our understanding of America and being an American?
• How do the American people utilize their creativity and ingenuity to create new technologies and to pursue new understanding, and what are the positive and negative results, generated by these processes, on Americans?
• How does the American natural landscape, its forces, vastness and potential, shape our lives and motivate us to learn more about ourselves?

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What political, economic, social and religious forces motivate Americans and how do they affect the decisions we make in our nation?
• How do we maintain our sense of self – and its unique needs- while contributing productively to the needs broader society?
• How do American people utilize their creativity and ingenuity to pursue new understandings and modes of life, and what are the positive and negative results generated by these processes?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• summarize the motivations for exploration in the Americas.
• identify the different colonies and their social, political and economic development.
• summarize the events that led to the American Revolution.
• map the major battles and strategies of the American Revolution.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• analyze the motivations and ideals of American colonization.
• explain the conflict between Idealism and Utopias and the struggle with Reality in the American Experience.
• analyze the impact of differing views of morality, labor, politics, religion and Idealism between separate colonies and the Mother Country.
• explain the effects of the "savage wilderness", "a city upon a hill" and "the abundant paradise" on the development of colonial economies and politics.
• explain the existence of Whig Theory and the Colonial Experience with Salutary Neglect and a wilderness setting.
• analyze the impact of the Declaration of Independence on the Colonies and future Americans.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• compare and contrast the ideas of individualism and conformity in the Colonial Experience.
• predict the outcome of settlement, distance and time upon the creation of a unique American view of morality, religion and sense of self and the community.
• compare and contrast the values and lifestyle of European, African and American cultures co-existing in the same time and place.
• predict the political mindset of the newly formed United States based upon its colonial history, experience and founding ideals in the Declaration of Independence.
• Predict the outcome of the American Revolution and develop a winning strategy and Treaty of Paris negotiation for the colonists.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• gauge the outcomes of the collision of the American political, economic and religious culture with the British political, economic and religious culture of the 17th Century.
• evaluate the role of education, science, art, literature and religious conviction in the daily lives of the differing groups living the American colonies.
• evaluate the ideals, differences and experiences of the American colonists and judge their ability to govern and defend themselves effectively.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does the balance between individual liberty, freedom, equality and the needs of national security, stability and longevity influence our sense of what it means to be an American?
• How do Americans maintain their individual, regional and historical needs and customs of their States and homelands - and their respective identities - while contributing productively the creation of a broader nation and the creation of a new national identity?
• How do the American people utilize their creativity and ingenuity to pursue new understandings and modes of life, and what are the positive and negative results generated by these processes?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• describe the relationship between Whig Theory, republican ideology and the failure and success of the American Experiment.
• recognize the conflict between differing ideologies of Federalist-Anti-Federalist and Federalist/Democratic-Republican as inherent in the American political and cultural mindset.
• identify the issues confronting the United States at home and abroad, specifically relating to American ideals of freedom, isolation and expansion, and judge the success of each Administration’s handling of these issues.
• identify the opposing forces of regionalism and nationalism caused by political, economic, moral and cultural ideas and needs.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation concerning American idealism, republicanism and reality.
• analyze how the introduction of Federalism affected and redefined American ideas of political freedom, liberty and equality and the power and theory of government.
• evaluate the actions and policies of successive Administrations to maintain American idealism and its unique place in the world against the economic, political and military realities from both without and within.
• evaluate the actions and policies of the 1809 to 1815 period as a realization of American idealism and ideology or as a realization of the limits and weaknesses of the American Experiment.
• describe how the policy of Manifest Destiny led to the future growth and future destruction of the American Experiment of self government.
• analyze and explain the impact of political, economic and social development of the North, West and South concerning slaves, women, Native Americans, farmers and laborers.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• compare and contrast Federalist and Anti-Federalist rhetoric and philosophy as inheritors of the American Revolution.
• compare and contrast the differing economic, political and social views of the Federalist and Democratic-Republicans to Revolutionary antecedents and American experience.
• analyze the concepts of nullification, States Rights and National Supremacy as weaknesses or strengths of the redefined American Experiment.
• compare and contrast the American ideals of democracy, liberty and equality and the existence of slavery, women and non-landholders.
• analyze the War of 1812 as a "second independence" or a "minor event."
• make predictions for the future of the American Experiment concerning the unresolved problems of nullification, slavery and expansion of the American Experiment.
• compare and contrast the arguments for and against slavery and the Cult of Domesticity.
• evaluate the Era of Good Feeling’s economic and political developments as creators of American nationalism or American sectionalism.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• rate the successes and failures of the first four Presidents in maintaining American ideals of liberty, equality, democracy and posterity.
• choose between Hamiltonianism and Jeffersonianism as the best representation of the American hopes for liberty, posterity, and political and economic independence.
• analyze the Farewell Address and its promotion or failure to answer America’s needs for liberty and political and economic independence and its conflicts with reality.
• evaluate the impact of the reform movement and Manifest Destiny on future movements for secession, feminism and civil rights.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does diversity - and the regional, political and economic view of it in American history - influence our sense of what it means to be an American?
• How do we maintain our sense of what it means to be an American - and its unique ideology of freedom, liberty and individualism - while contributing productively and properly to the needs, customs and ideology of the nation as a whole?
• How does the American nation utilize its creativity and ingenuity to pursue new military, economic, political and social understandings of what the American Experiment stands for and what are the positive and negative results generated by these processes?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• understand the 1850s as the convergence of the structural defects present from the beginning of the American experiment with self government and nation building.
• discuss the strategies and major battles of the Civil War
• explain the methods used by Lincoln to consolidate the Revolutionary redefinition of the American Experiment via his First Inaugural Address, Fort Sumter and his war goals.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• analyze the attempts at reconciliation and the major causes of the Civil War and determine if the conflict was inevitable.
• analyze the flexibility and uses of the United States Constitution prior to the Civil War and during the Civil War.
• analyze the arguments and perspectives of idealism and ideology, in both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, used by the North and South to determine the legality of: suspension of habeas corpus, secession, drafts, income taxes and war goals.
• evaluate the methods of Lincoln in the use of idealism and American political tradition to consolidate the Federal government and preserve the American Experiment of self government, liberty and equality.
• develop and map proper strategy for the Union forces as it applies to foreign pressures, new military technology, homefront election pressures and the need to create a whole and unified nation

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• compare and contrast the motivation, ideology and ideals of both the North and South and predict the winner of the 1850s political and economic contests.
• assess the actions of Abraham Lincoln on the structure and power structure of the Federal government in wartime.
• predict the impact and consequences of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• make predictions as to the future of the redefined American Experiment under the victorious ideals of the Hamiltonian North in terms of economics, politics, morality and society.
• evaluate the phrasing and ideology of the Gettysburg Address as a turning point in the redefinition of the American Experiment and the Revolutionary Ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does the balance between the ideology of freedom, liberty and opportunity for post-Reconstruction African Americans compare to the reality (unchanged mindsets, limited opportunities and Jim Crow) influence our sense of what it means to be an American?
• How does diversity, and the cultural frame through which the American people view it in economics, politics, society and culture shape our knowledge of what American society should be and our interactions others?
• What political and historical values, beliefs and ideologies motivate Americans to change or resist change in their societies, their lives and their understandings of the purpose and rationale of the American Dream?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify the major figures and events of the Reconstruction Era through Civil Rights Movement.
• identify and apply the major philosophies and ideals of the various interest groups in Reconstruction Era southern United States.
• identify the legal and social obstacles used by the southern States to deny, deflect and obfuscate the goals and ideals of the freemen and the Radical Republicans.
• identify and describe the goals and uses of Jim Crowism on both white and black citizens of the southern United States.
• understand and describe the legal and moral philosophies used by the Supreme Court, the Congress and the Executive in fulfilling the American political and social ideal of "a city upon a hill."
• identify the legal and moral philosophies of African American leaders from the 1890s to the 1980s in fulfilling the American political and social ideal of "a city upon a hill."

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• analyze the actions, goals and beliefs of the various interest groups during the Reconstruction Era to determine in what ways the Era was a success and a failure.
• analyze and assess the moral, legal and social ideas and ideology of southern resistance and Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.
• interpret major Supreme Court decisions dealing with civil rights and assess their connection to both modern America and their antecedents.
• examine and the goals and ideas of the Malcolm Luther King, Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party to examine the leadership of the civil rights movement.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• evaluate the success or failure of the Federal government’s response and policies concerning the Reconstruction Era from 1865 through 1896.
• evaluate the success or failure of the Federal government’s response and policies concerning Civil Rights from the 1954 through the present day.
• evaluate methodology, experience and technology in the evolution of civil rights from the Reconstruction Era through the present day.
• judge the success or failure of the Ribicoff plan to end de facto segregation, Nixon’s Southern Strategy, Affirmative Action, the Kerner Commission and the Moynihan Report.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• compare and contrast differing interpretations of the Reconstruction Era via The Birth of Nation (1911) and Roots Episode V1 (1977) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• compare and contrast the civil rights era of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and 1830s abolitionist reformers to the civil rights actions in the age of camera, video and network news.
• compare and contrast the methodology of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the new media of network television.
• compare, contrast and judge the effectiveness of the forces of Hamiltonianism in the victorious North versus the forces of Radical Republicanism concerning the goals and ideals of the redefined American Experiment of Reconstruction.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How do the ideological values of personal liberty, economic opportunity and the American Dream compare to the reality of wages and employment, rugged individualism and the realities of capitalism?
• How do the people of the United States change, adapt and innovate to create new technologies, business models and political understandings while at the same time maintaining their ideological focus of liberty, freedom and opportunity for all?
• How does the United States citizen and the United States as a whole maintain its sense of self and its unique ideas, needs and desires that lead to success while still contributing positively to a world and environment that threatens to damage those very values?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify and explain the factors that lead to the growth of Big Business and the Industrial Revolution after the Civil War and their effect upon the Labor movement.
• list the different aspects of 1880s and 1890s culture in mass media, education, entertainment, art and politics.
• identify the various industrial and corporate organizations and practices invented during the 1890s and determine their consistency with the ideals and ethics of the American Experiment.
• enumerate the ideals and ideology of the Progressive movement and its leaders as creators of a redefined American Experiment or holders of the status quo.
• trace the changes in American foreign policy from the Farewell Address to the involvement in expansionism/imperialism in the late 19th century.
• understand the relationship between supply and demand, skill and wages, profit and mass production, employment and welfare, risk and reward.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• compare and contrast laissez-faire capitalism, Social Darwinism. the Gospel of Wealth, A Model Of Christian Charity, and Horatio Alger stories as either consistent or inconsistent with American ideals and reality.
• analyze the role of immigration in post Civil War United States as well as its effect upon the nation’s politics, economics and social structure.
• analyze the wealth and power of 19th century industrialists as either Captains of Industry or Robber Barons.
• describe the actions of the United States in the Caribbean, Pacific and the Monroe Doctrine and compare these actions to the American Experiment’s anti-monarchial and anti-colonialist past.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• compare and contrast modern entrepreneurs with their 19th century counterparts.
• predict the problems associated with urbanization and industrialization and make recommendations for their solution.
• debate and make recommendations for the United States in Cuba, the Philippines and Hawaii consistent with American needs and ideals compared to the actions of Europe.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• evaluate the impact of various writings from the period.
• assess the importance of genre and style in evaluating writings and documents of the civil rights period.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does the balance between American ideology of fair play, the good life, isolation and the reality of world politics, human nature and economic truths influence our sense of what it means to be an American?
• How do we balance our sense of self and our unique needs, viewpoints and freedom of coercion by the government while at the same time contributing positively to the needs of the group and the government as a whole economically, politically and militarily?
• What political, social, technological and economic forces motivate Americans to change or resist change to their society, their worldview and their life style and how do these forces affect the decisions we make as a nation?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• Trace the changes in American foreign policy, from the Farewell Address to involvement in the Great War and identify the factors that moved the United States into breaking with its traditional foreign policy.
• list and understand the post-war foreign policy objectives of the Wilson Administration and its consistency with traditional American ideology as the "city upon a hill."
• identify the people and events of the 1920s and their contributions to the Jazz Age, Red Scare, Prohibition flouting, the Lost Generation and the effect of technology upon the United States.
• identify the causes of and changes created by the Great Depression upon the American moral, psychological, political and economic systems.
• list the policies, principles and programs of the New Deal and Keynesian Economics.
• understand the connection between standardization, consumerism and conformity in 1950s America.
• list the policies and ideas of the New Frontier and the Great Society.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• analyze the arguments for and against ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations and explain the impact of their rejection as a factor of American history, tradition and custom.
• investigate the 1920s as a period of old vs. new, xenophobia, cynicism vs. optimism, urban vs. rural, and modernism vs. traditionalism.
• scrutinize the political and economic philosophy and actions of the Republican Presidents of the 1920s as either do-nothing politicians or defenders of American political tradition, custom and ideals.
• analyze criticism of the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt and make judgments regarding their consistency with American needs, ideals and reality.
• analyze criticism of the New Frontier and the Great Society as being in line with or counter to the ideals and founding ideals of the Framers.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• formulate strategies using both traditional American political and economic solutions as well as Keynesian economic solutions in regard to the economic downturn and changes taking place in 1920s America.
• analyze the pro and anti-war movements and reactions to both during the Great War compare these concerns to both the Civil War and the concerns of modern America.
• compare the redefinition of the American Experiment under the Gettysburg Address with the redefinition of the American Experiment under the New Deal and the impact upon both of the ideas today.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• conclude whether the WWI/1920s America was consistent with the ideals and philosophies of the Framers or if it was period of contraction of the ideals of the Framers.
• defend the thesis that America was in a "state of present danger" in the years prior to WWI or if isolation was possible and preferred to intervention.
• compare and then rate the responses of President Hoover and Governor Roosevelt to the worsening economic conditions of America as found in 1932.
• evaluate the New Deal as the logical and necessary response to the failures of laissez-faire economics or if it was simply a side track from the political goals and ideals of the Framers.
• compare and contrast the ideals Modern Republicanism with the Great Society and the Silent Majority

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How did the Cold War generation balance the rights of the individual and the need to protect our democracy?
• How did the values, beliefs, and ethics held by Americans of the late fifties and early sixties lead to the origins of the Civil Rights Movement, the conflict between conformity and the counterculture, and the ideals of the New Frontier and the Great Society?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• list the factors that contributed to the Second Red Scare.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• examine the impact of the Second Red Scare and the Joseph McCarthy hearings.
• analyze the conflict between conformity and counter culture of the 1950s.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• Compare and contrast the foreign and domestic policies, personalities and decisions of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• sequence the goals, successes, and failures of the New Frontier and Great Society, and evaluate these programs as the fulfillments of the Progressive agenda, and make connections to the emerging social and Vietnam protest movements.

COURSE INFORMATION

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How do the American people and their unique experiences and ideology coincide with and conflict with the goals and ideas of the world at large?
• What are the social, political, economic and cultural forces that motivate the people of the United States to defend, preserve and export their experiences and experiment to other peoples of the world?
• How do Americans maintain their sense of individuality, liberty and identity while contributing productively to the needs of a broad democratic society in war and crisis?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• Trace the development of American foreign policy from the 1930s to US involvement in WWII and list the key strategies, ideas and laws.
• trace the development of Japanese-United States relations from the time of the Great White Fleet through the oil and scrap metal embargoes of the 1930s.
• list the major battles, diplomatic and foreign policy ideas of the WWII period.
• identify and distinguish the various Containment policies and their derivatives used by the United States in the post-WWII period.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• analyze whether the American diplomatic movements of the 1930s were consistent with American tradition and custom and determine if the Pearl Harbor attack should be considered a surprise or a predictable event.
• formulate a strategy for the Pacific and European theatres of war.
• formulate a strategy for the Cold War and relations with the Soviet Union in the post-WWII period.
• demonstrate the relationship between the Cold War and the emergence of the Red Scare and McCarthysim.
• analyze the impact of the Vietnam War on national politics, ideology and American perceptions of themselves and the world at large.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• examine evidence and create legal strategies to counter and imprison Nazi and Japanese war criminals.
• apply the core philosophies and ideas of Containment Policy to American and world actions in the 1950s and 1960s and demonstrate how it influenced and counteracted traditional American foreign policy.
• analyze the Yalta Conference and the creation of the UN, the Truman Doctrine and NATO in establishing post-war relations with the Soviet Union and its satellites.
• examine the business model of the post-war United States as a driver for social and cultural standardization and the coming counter-culture.
• interpret the major Supreme Court decisions of the 1960s and link their connection to the Silent Majority, the Vietnam War era ethos and the Election of 1980.

EXAMINING THE CONTENT The student will . . .

• determine if internment in the Korematsu case was compatible with American ideology and practice in war time.
• judge the efficacy and possibility of the President Washington’s Farewell Address in the Cold War era, atomic weapons world.
• decide if use of atomic weapons by the United States in WWII was appropriate from an ideological and strategic viewpoint.
• evaluate the response of the United States Containment Policy in China, Korea, Sputnik, Hungary, U2, Cuba and Vietnam.
• evaluate 1950s American culture as a fulfillment of the American Dream.
• judge the success or failure domestically and in foreign policy of the American Presidency from 1968 through the present.