Course Overview:
The first semester of United States History covers topics from the founding principles of the US government to the Great Depression. Vital topics such as events that led to the Civil War, post-war Reconstruction, industrialization, urbanization, and progressivism are discussed. In addition, the course offers a well-rounded view of the topics covered by highlighting the political, social, and cultural impact of key events.
The course is structured to help students understand how past events impact individuals, governments, and ultimately, the world. Students will be challenged to apply their acquired knowledge by completing a variety of assessments, interactive simulations, and writing assignments. This multifaceted approach to learning reinforces the course material while polishing students’ reading, writing, and communication skills.
Note: This course is not designed for ELL (English Language Learners) students. ELL students may enroll in this course ONLY if they have adequate mentor support at their home school and are able to fulfill all course requirements.
Prerequisites:
Syllabus:
Section 1: A New Nation Transforms
In this section, you will learn about:
- Foundations of American democracy, the Constitution, and early laws
- Technologies and land policies that led to westward expansion and the market revolution
- Southern economy, politics, and culture
- How the conflict over slavery led to the Civil War
- Post-war Reconstruction
- The industrial revolution and its impact
- The Gilded Age
- The impact of technologies and innovations on the growth of big business
- Westward movement
- How the U.S. government and westward settlement impacted Native American tribes
Lessons:
- The Founding of the Nation and the Challenge of Slavery – Part 1
- The Founding of the Nation and the Challenge of Slavery – Part 2
- Manifest Destiny and the Market Revolution
- The Breaking and Reshaping of the New Nation – Part 1
- The Breaking and Reshaping of the New Nation – Part 2
- The Rise of Industrial America
- Big Business and Robber Barons in the Railroad Age
- Western Expansion into Contested Lands
Section 2:The Gilded Age In America
In this section, you will learn about:
- Urbanization and the rise of cities
- Development of a mass consumer culture and its impact on norms, practices, and ways of life
- The new southern economy and the rise of segregation in the South
- Working conditions that led to the rise of influential labor organizations
- Politics in the Gilded Age
- The rise of Populism
- Women’s participation in political life in the late 19th century
Lessons:
- The American City and its People
- Leisure and Mass Consumer Culture
- The New South
- Working Class Politics and Resistance
- Gilded Age Politics and the Populist Response
Section 3: The Progressive Era
In this section, you will learn about:
- The Progressive Era and impact of Progressivism
- Women’s fight for the right to vote
- Social control as related to progressive reform
- Progressive politics and reforms under the presidential administrations of Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson
- Expansion of the federal government for progressive reforms related to consumer protection, labor policies, business regulation, environmental conservation, banking, and alcohol prohibition
- Radical reform movements and groups that progressives excluded (Blacks, Native Americans, women)
- Socialists in America
Lessons:
- The Origins of the Progressive Movement
- State and Local Progressivism
- Progressivism and Social Control
- National Progressive Politics
- The Limits of Progressive Reform
Section 4: American Imperialism and Involvement In WWI
In this section, you will learn about:
- The United States’ role in the world
- Domestic policy changes in the late 19th century
- The Spanish American War
- The Philippine War
- The United States as an imperial power
- World War I
- The lasting impacts of World War I
Lessons:
- New Imperialism and the United States’ Role in the World
- The Spanish-American War and American Imperialism
- The United States Enters World War I
- America at War: On the Homefront and the Battlefields
- Lasting Impacts of U.S. Involvement in World War I
Section 5: America from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression
In this section, you will learn about:
- U.S. peacetime economy following World War I
- The United States’ changing role in the world
- Changes in mass production and manufacturing
- Consumerism and mass culture in the 1920s
- The Harlem Renaissance
- Post-war changes in America including the labor movement of the 1920s, the “Red Scare,” the “New Woman,” and challenges faced by Black Americans
- How social changes like the anti-immigration policy and Fundamentalism impacted America
- The Great Depression
- Roosevelt’s approach to repairing the nation after the Great Depression including New Deal programs
- How Americans navigated the Great Depression in the 1930s
Lessons:
- The “Roaring Twenties” and the New Economic Order
- Consumerism and Mass Culture
- Conflict and Reform in a Changing Society
- The Great Depression in America
- The New Deal
