History 121 Description & Objectives

History 121: U.S. History I
Course Description & Objectives

History 121 is taught through the NVCC Distance Learning Center (Extended Learning Institute.) All materials for this course can be accessed from the History 121 Course Home Page. This is a fully online course, so you will need regular access to a computer with an Internet connection. You will not have to attend any class meetings. You will have to take three proctored exams at any NVCC campus testing center. Proctoring at other locations can be arranged. You will also use the Blackboard component of the course for online discussions and quizzes and exams. You will automatically be enrolled in Blackboard when the course officially begins.

The Course is divided into four chronological sections as follows:

Part 1 of the course covers exploration and colonization and examines the lives of colonists and how they interacted with the new landscape of America and with the British Empire. It continues through the French and Indian War and the beginning of the period of the American Revolution
Part 2 begins in 1763 with an exploration of the background events of the American Revolution, the conduct of the war independence, and the granting of freedom to the new nation in 1783. It then proceeds to the story of the writing of the United States Constitution and the development of the new nation under Presidents Washington and Adams. It ends with the election of 1800.
Part 3 covers the events of the Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams administrations and concludes with Jacksonian America under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren. It includes the War of 1812 and explores a time of economic progress as well as democratic growth and reform.
Part 4 begins with the 1840s, a period identified with Manifest Destiny and expansion across the continent to the Pacific coast. It includes the Texas fight for independence, the Mexican-American War and the opening of California. The section next proceeds toward secession and concludes with the fighting and conclusion of the Civil War.

Each section requires one quiz or exam and one written project, instructions for which are included on this site. In addition students are required to make at least one site visit to an actual historic location or museum during the course, which will be the subject for one or more essays. See project instructions for more detail.

Course Objectives: Our goals will be to:

Understand the character of the men and women who settled America and created a new nation;
Appreciate the causes, effects and meaning of the American Revolution;
Examine and understand the United States Constitution;
Study the forces that both unified and divided the young Republic;
Comprehend the causes, conduct and legacy of the American Civil War.

Although we will pay attention to the experiences of all segments of American society from colonial times through 1865, we will emphasize the major political events and figures. We will spend extra time on the American Revolutionary War and Civil War periods and will examine the United States Constitution in considerable detail. At the end of the course students should have a deeper understanding of America and its people, a fuller appreciation of how this nation has been shaped by its past, and more realistic expectations for America 's future.

History 121 Home | Assignments Spring 2008| Updated November 27, 2007