American History

The goal of our class in American History is to explore the story of our nation. Led by our intrepid history guide, Ms. Leigh, we will research and share information about the history of America from varied sources and viewpoints, engage in discussions, and examine how history is recorded and presented.

About
We meet on Wednesdays (at Ms. Craven's house) from 10:00-12:00 and Fridays (at Ms. Leigh's house) from 3:00-5:00.

Every student is required to have a binder, an American History textbook of their choosing, and a copy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

Throughout the course we'll be discussing events throughout our history, the outcomes of those events, and most importantly the reasons behind them, and how the event is conventionally described vs. what actually happened, in entirety.

This class is not graded; though grades will be given on assignments, they are purely for student/parent purposes and don't go on any record.

Schedule
Main page: American History/Schedule

We meet 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Wednesdays and 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Fridays. See the schedule link above for info about breaks, events, etc.

Homework Assignments
Main page: American History/Homework

Current Projects
Main page: American History/Projects
 * Project due 9/22/10: Research the colony (or colonies) given to you and prepare a 5-10 minute presentation to teach the class about it/them. A written copy is not required.

A People's History of the United States
Online Copy of A People's History of the United States

Colonial America (pre 1776)

 * Colonial History of the United States
 * America: The Story of Us (Segments can be found on YouTube)
 * US History Database
 * World History Database
 * Maps Database for Early America
 * Colonial Charters, Grants, and Related Documents
 * U.S. History Student Resource Center
 * Interactive Colony Map
 * US Colonial History - Can you become a millionaire?

Other

 * Help on Writing Papers
 * How to Write a Bibliography

Recommended Reading

 *  Red, White, and Black  by Gary B. Nash
 * "Written by highly acclaimed historian Gary B. Nash, this text presents an interpretive account of the interactions between Native Americans, African Americans, and Euroamericans during the colonial and revolutionary eras. It reveals the crucial interconnections between North America's many peoples, illustrating the ease of their interactions in the first two centuries of European and African presence, to develop a fuller, deeper understanding of the nation's underpinnings." -- Amazon.com


 * Race and Revolution by Gary B. Nash
 * "The most profound crisis of conscience for white Americans at the end of the eighteenth century became their most tragic failure. "Race and Revolution" is a trenchant study of the revolutionary generation's early efforts to right the apparent contradiction of slavery and of their ultimate compromises that not only left the institution intact but provided it with the protection of a vastly strengthened government after 1788. Reversing the conventional view that blames slavery on the South's social and economic structures, Nash stresses the role of the northern states in the failure to abolish slavery. It was northern racism and hypocrisy as much as southern intransigence that buttressed "the peculiar institution." Nash also shows how economic and cultural factors intertwined to result not in an apparently judicious decision of the new American nation but rather its most significant lost opportunity. "Race and Revolution" describes the free black community's response to this failure of the revolution's promise, its vigorous and articulate pleas for justice, and the community's successes in building its own African-American institutions within the hostile environment of early nineteenth-century America. Included with the text of "Race and Revolution" are nineteen rare and crucial documents--letters, pamphlets, sermons, and speeches--which provide evidence for Nash's controversial and persuasive claims. From the words of Anthony Benezet and Luther Martin to those of Absalom Jones and Caesar Sarter, readers may judge the historical record for themselves. "In reality," argues Nash, "the American Revolution represents the largest slave uprising in our history." "Race and Revolution" is the compelling story of that failed quest for the promise of freedom." --Amazon.com


 *  Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus  by Orson Scott Card
 * A fictional work about "the devastating consequences that Columbus's voyage and ensuing colonization had on the native people of the Americas and Africa. In a thought-provoking work that is part science fiction, part historical drama, Orson Scott Card writes about scientists in a fearful future who study that tragic past, then attempt to actually intervene and change it into something better." -- Amazon.com


 *  Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong  by James W. Loewen
 * "Loewen... argues that the bland, Eurocentric treatment of history bores most elementary and high school students, who also find it irrelevant to their lives. To make learning more compelling, Loewen urges authors, publishers and teachers to highlight the drama inherent in history by presenting students with different viewpoints and stressing that history is an ongoing process, not merely a collection of—often misleading—factoids. Readers interested in history, whether liberal or conservative, professional or layperson, will find food for thought here. Illustrated." -- Amazon.com


 *  500 Nations  by Alvin M. Josephy.
 * Companion book to the PBS series by the same name. A history of North America's indigenous peoples.


 * Africans in America
 * True stories of Africans and what they went through as they struggled for freedom.