U.S.

History to 1877
History 1377 Section 31865
11:00-12:00 MWF
Location: 101 SW

Instructor: Brenda Broussard

Office: 561 Agnes Arnold
Hours: 9:00-10:30 MW
e-mail: contact through Blackboard mail
Office Phone: 713-743-3109

Teaching Assistant: Charlotte Whatley

Office: 455 AH
Hours: MW 12:00-1:30
e-mail: contact through Blackboard mail

Welcome to U.S. History to 1377. This course satisfies 3 hours of CORE requirements
upon satisfactory completion.

Required Textbook: Out of Many Vol. I by Faragher (ISBN: 0536279551)

The textbook is available at the campus bookstore, off-site textbook stores, and online.
One copy will be on reserve at the library for 2-hour checkout.

Course Website: We will use Blackboard as our course website. You will find the
syllabus and other important documents posted on the site. Your grades will be posted on
Blackboard. Please feel free to utilize the discussion board feature to arrange study
groups or clarify course materials with other students. DO NOT abuse this feature. The
instructor and TA monitor the site and anyone using it inappropriately will have their
usage privileges revoked.

Teaching Assistant: Ms. Whatley is your teaching assistant. She is here to help you with
any of your academic needs. You should attempt to address any concerns with Ms.
Whatley first since she will be more familiar with you as an individual. During the first
few weeks of school, you should personally introduce yourself to Ms. Whatley.

Contacting your TA and instructor: please utilize the WebCt/Blackboard mail feature.
Allow 24-48 hours for us to respond to your message.

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Classroom conduct and academic honesty:
Each and every one of you are now academics and adults. As academics and adults you
are expected to behave in a professional and respectful manner. Your intellectual
thoughts and opinions are welcomed in the classroom forum. Unprofessional,
inappropriate, crude, or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated and you will be asked to
leave and possibly be dropped from the course.
DO NOT USE CELLS PHONES, BLACKBERRIES, CHECK E-MAIL, WEB
SURF, FACEBOOK, PLAY COMPUTER GAMES, ETC. DURING CLASS. You
may use your laptop to take notes only. Do not video tape or record the lectures unless
given prior approval. Do not do work for other classes. Do not sleep. Do not talk.

STUDENTS DROPPED FOR BEHAVIOR or ACADEMIC HONESTY ISSUES

MAY FIND THEY WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND FOR THE COURSE!

Cheating of any kind will result in a zero for that assignment and possible disciplinary
actions including loss of scholarships/ financial aid and expulsion. ALL incidents will be
filed with Academic Affairs and kept on your permanent record.

Attendance: The TA will take attendance daily. You may miss up to 3 classes to receive
a 100% for attendance. 4-6 absences will receive 50%. More than 6 absences will receive
0%. There is no need to contact me or the TA about an absence. Do not bring any
excuses.

Tardiness/early departure: Be on time. Class begins promptly at 11:00. Plan to stay the
entire 50 minutes. Class dismisses at 11:50. Anyone more than 5 minutes late will not
receive attendance credit for that day. Leaving early will also result in no credit for that
day. Also, leaving for any lengthy or frequent durations in the middle of class will result
in no credit.

Readings/Textbook/Lectures: It is imperative that you keep up with the textbook

reading assignments and any additional reading assignments posted on the course
website. READ BEFORE COMING TO CLASS! All of the readings and the lectures
will compliment each other. While there may be some overlap of information, you will
not be able to effectively answer the exam questions if you have not kept up with all of
the course materials. During lectures you need to take copious and detailed notes to
review prior to exams. Pay close attention to the different themes in the course. While
factual details are very important, you will need to be able to provide a critical analysis of
the major themes in the interpretation of U.S. History.

Online Reading Quizzes: There will be three (3) online quizzes that you must take.
Each quiz is worth 10% of your grade. The quizzes will be available for 23 hours on
Blackboard. Once you open the assessment, you will have one hour to answer a series of
multiple choice questions. The questions will be drawn from all of the reading materials.
There will be no make-ups for the on-line quizzes.

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Exams: There will be four (4) exams given in this course. The first three (3) exams will
not be comprehensive. You will write a long essay that addresses one of two questions.
The forth exam is an optional/make-up exam. If for any reason you miss one of the first 3
exams, or are not happy with a grade you received on one of them, you can take the
optional comprehensive exam to replace that grade. Therefore, you have the chance at
four exam grades. Only the highest three grades will be averaged into your course total.
The 3 highest exam grades will each be worth 20% of your grade.

• YOU MUST TAKE AT LEAST 3 OF THE 4 EXAMS IN ORDER TO PASS

THIS COURSE.
• THE OPTIONAL EXAM WILL ONLY REPLACE ONE OF THE FIRST 3
EXAM GRADES!
• THERE ARE NO OTHER MAKE-UP EXAMS

The optional exam will be a 3 hour long exam. It will be comprehensive and you must
answer all three of the essay prompts. The optional exam will be given during the final
exam schedule set forth by the university.

Grade breakdown:
Online quiz I 10%
Exam I 20%
Online quiz II 10%
Exam II 20%
Online quiz III 10%
Exam III 20%
Attendance 10%
Total 100%
*optional exam can replace one of the Exam (I,II, or III) grades

Students with Disabilities: It is important that you contact your instructor as soon as
possible if you are a student with a disability that requires special arrangements for
classroom time and assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to acquire the proper
paperwork for modified exams. As this can take several weeks to arrange, students need
to begin the process at the start of the semester.

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 Schedule

This schedule is TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE- regular attendance

in class will assure that you keep up with any alterations in the schedule.

** there will be additional reading assignments announced in class each week (these
are not listed on this syllabus)

August
23 First Day of Classes/ Introduction/ pass out syllabus

25 Brief re-introduction/ pick out permanent seats/ discuss quality essay

exams/ purpose of studying history

27 The People of the Northern American Continent

Read: Chapters 1-2 in textbook
30 Read: Document Set 1 & 2

September
1 Britain and Its New American Colonies
Read Chapter 3

3
6 Labor Day Holiday/ No class

8 Labor and Life in the Colonies

Read Chapter 4
Last Day to Drop Courses without receiving a grade or counting toward
cap.

10
13 The Developing American Identity
Read Chapter 5

15

17 From Colony to Fledgling Nation

Read Chapter 6
20

22 ONLINE READING QUIZ I- noon today until 11:00am tomorrow

September
24 EXAM I
27 The American Revolution
Read Chapter 7 Textbook

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October
1 Forging a New Republic
Read Chapter 8
4

8 An Agrarian Republic
Read Chapter 9
11

13 The South
Read Chapter 10

15
18 Political Growing Pains
Read Chapter 11

20

22 The North and Industrialization

Read Chapter 12
25

27 ONLINE READING QUIZ II- noon today until 11:00am tomorrow

29 EXAM II
November
1 A Nation of Contradictions
Read Chapter 13

3 Last Day to drop a course or withdraw with a W

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November
8 The Expanding United States
Read: Chapter 14 textbook

10

12
15 Sectionalism and the Impending Crisis
Read Chapter 15

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19 The Civil War

Read : Chapter 16 textbook
22

24 No classes- Thanksgiving Holiday

26 No classes- Thanksgiving Holiday

29 Reconstruction
Read: Chapter 17 textbook

December
1
ONLINE READING QUIZ III- noon today until 11:00am tomorrow

3 EXAM III

10 OPTIONAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAM- 11:00-2:00pm