HIST405N Discussions Latest 2022 June (Full)

HIST405N United States History

Week 1 Discussion

The Cost of Expansion

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 3, 4

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following settlements:

Southern colonies

Chesapeake colonies

Middle colonies

New England colonies

Then, address the following for your selections:

Compare and contrast the settlement patterns.

What forces and ideas shaped their origin?

Examine the influence of religion for those settlements (e.g., Puritanism, Quakers, and the Anglican Church).

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 2 Discussion

DQ1 The American Revolution

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 5, 6

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the leading causes of the American Revolution.

The Proclamation Act of 1763

The Navigation Acts

The Stamp Act

The Declaratory Act

The Townsend Act

The Boston Massacre

The Coercive Acts

Then, address the following for your selections:

Analyze the cause and effect of two acts passed by the British Parliament on British North America. Which of your two selections do you consider the most significant and why?

Examine and explain the significance of the Declaration of Independence to the development of the American Revolution.

DQ2 Confederation and Constitution

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 7, 8

Lesson

Link (website): Articles of Confederation (1777) (Links to an external site.)

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post

For the initial post, address the following:

Pick two (2) issues of the Articles of Confederation and describe the main problems that the United States was faced with under the Federation government.

Analyze two major debates (see textbook Section 7.4) by which the Constitution was created in the summer of 1787.

Then, address one (1) of the following to your initial post:

Discuss the ratification process of the Constitution of 1787.

How did ratification lead to the formation of America's first two political parties, the Federalists and Anti-Federalist?

What were the major differences between the Federalist and Anti-Federalist, and who were the best-known members of each party?

 

 

 

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 3 Discussion

Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War of 1846

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 8 (section 8.3), 11

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following historical events:

The Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Missouri Compromise

Independence of Texas

Mexican War of 1846-1848

The California Gold Rush

Then, address the following for your selections:

Which of your two selections do you consider most impactful on Westward Expansion during 1800-1848? Explain why.

Analyze the effects of the ideology of Manifest Destiny on the two historical events that you chose from the list.

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 Stepping Stones to the Civil War

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 12, 14

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick three (3) of the leading causes of the American Civil War:

The Compromise of 1850

The Fugitive Slave Law 1850

Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852

The Kansas Nebraska Act 1854

The Dred Scott Case of 1857

The Lincoln Douglas Debates 1858

Then, address one (1) of the following for your selections:

Based on the historical facts given in this module, assess if the American Civil War was inevitable.

Analyze if the United States Supreme Court can settle legal and moral issues through judiciary review. In your response, provide a documented example of a modern parallel of a legal or moral issue settled by the United States Supreme Court.

DQ2 Reconstruction and the Compromise of 1877

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 15, 16

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, craft a response comparing the three (3) Reconstruction plans:

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (10% Plan) - Lincoln

Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Plan

Congressional Reconstruction Plan (Congress)

Then, address one (1) of the following for your selections:

Analyze if the South should have been treated as a defeated nation or as rebellious states.

Explain how the American culture and society changed in the North versus the South during Reconstruction.

Analyze the impact of the Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction on African-Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 5 Discussion

Industrialization, Imperialism, and America’s Entry Into WWI

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 17 (section 17.4), 18 (section 18.3), 19 (sections 19.1, 19.2), 21 (sections 21.2, 21.4)

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following categories representing minority groups during 1880-1914:

Women's rights activists

African Americans

Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe

Child workers

Great Plain Indians

Then, address the following for your selections:

Explain the socio-economic status and challenges of your minority groups at the turn of the century.

How did the Industrial Revolution affect your chosen minority groups?

Analyze how the Progressives brought reform to your selected minority groups. Do you find that the Progressives were successful in making government responsive and improve the conditions of your chosen minority group?

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1 The New Deal

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 24 (Section 24.4), 25, 26

Lesson

Link (video): A New Deal: Part 5 (Links to an external site.) (7:20)

Link (website): New Deal Programs: Selected Library of Congress Resources: Introduction (Links to an external site.) (Read this introduction before exploring the other links in this discussion.)

Link (website): New Deal Programs: Selected Library of Congress Resources (Links to an external site.) (Explore the links under Sections and Topic for specific New Deal Programs.)

Link (website): New Deal Programs: Selected Library of Congress Resources: Digitized Materials (Links to an external site.) (Explore the links for primary sources including audio recordings, written narratives, photographs, posters, and music.)

Link (website): President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal (Links to an external site.) (Review the documents and interviews on this site.)

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to noted resources)

Initial Post Instructions:

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following (any program and/or act of the New Deal):

Programs

Acts

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)

Public Works Administration (PWA)

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Farm Security Administration (FSA)

Emergency Banking Relief Act

Economy Act

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Tennessee Valley Authority Act (TVA)

National Employment System Act (Wagner-Peyser Act)

Home Owners Loan Act

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIA)

Glass-Steagall Act (Banking Act)

Securities & Exchange Act

Emergency Relief Appropriation Act

Resettlement Administration (RA)

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)

Social Security Act

 

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Reflecting over the weekly reading and lesson video The New Deal Coalition (also linked in the Required Resources), address the following for your selections:

Consider workers, immigrants, and African Americans. Explain how minorities were represented by the New Deal.

Analyze to what extent you think that the New Deal effectively ended the Great Depression and restored the economy.

DQ2 World War II

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 27

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, consider three (3) of the following events:

Treaty of Versailles

Rise of fascism, militarism and imperialism

Failure of the League of Nations

Hitler and the Nazi Party

The Lend Lease Act

Japanese expansion and the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Based on your three selections, choose two (2) of the following and craft a response for your selections:

Assess if the United States foreign policy during the 1930s helped to promote World War II. Could the United States have prevented the outbreak of World War II? If so, how? If not, why not?

Explain if the United States, despite neutrality, aided the Allies against the Axis powers.

Analyze if the use of atomic (nuclear) weapons to defeat enemies in war is a setback for democracy (President Truman's decision to drop the atom bomb on Japan).

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 7 Discussion

American Foreign Policy during the Cold War

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Sections 28.2, 29.1, 30.3, 31.3

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

Pick three (3) of the following American Foreign policies:

Marshall Plan

Berlin Airlift

Containment

Anti-Communist Freedom Fighters

Vietnam (conflict) War

Détente'

SALT I & SALT II

Camp David Accords

Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed "Star Wars")

Then, address the following for your selections:

Explain how each of your choices was an effective policy to thwart international communist expansion.

Based on your selections, analyze if the United States should have feared international communist subversion during the Cold War era (1945-1991).

 

HIST405N United States History

Week 8 Discussion

America and Terrorism in the 21st Century

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 32

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions

Consider a few terrorist activities since the 1980s until today. Here is a starting point:

1983: United States Embassy in Beirut and Kuwait is bombed

1988: Osama bin Laden re-organizes Al Qaeda in Pakistan to carry out attacks

1993: World Trade Center Bombing (first time)

1995: Oklahoma City Bombing

1998: United Stated Embassy bombings Nairobi and Sar Es Salaam

2001: 9/11 Bombing of the World Trade Centers

2001: Bio Terrorism begins (anthrax letters and Bill Gates's warnings on bio terrorism)

2013: Boston Marathon Bombings

2018: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Then, address three (3) of the following and craft a response, as a whole, for your selections:

Explain if you think that global terrorism can be stopped.

Analyze the responsibility of the United States today to be the world's "policeman."

Assess if peace and stability in the Middle East are vital to U.S. economy and national security.

If the United States withdrew its troops from the Middle East tomorrow, would the terrorist threat end. Why or why not?

Assess if the use of military force is the only way to prevent terrorism. Are there other possible alternatives? Which strategy is best and why?