Fusion Homeschooling

Office Hours:
By appointment (leonhirt@tecomm.com)

Students are welcome to send requests for further explanations of course materials or assignments or other questions by email to the instructor. Please use email as a learning tool. Use leonhirt@tecomm.com to contact me.

PURPOSE:

To examine U.S. history as a survey of important events and ideas from the earliest discovery of the Americas to the U.S. Civil War to modern times. Events such as colonization, the American Revolution, formation of a constitutional government, slavery, and the Civil War will be under study as will important historical figures. Events after the Civil War that students will study will include Reconstruction, industrialization of America, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam, and events of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

GOALS:

To develop an understanding of

METHODS:

The class will include lectures, guest speakers, class discussions, and research projects to explore these topics. Grading of performance in the class and of understanding of course materials will include evaluation of tests, writing assignments, and class discussions.

READINGS:

The required text for the course is "American History"

Readings also will include other materials online and class handouts.

TESTS:

Examinations for the class will include short essay questions and will try to measure your understanding of course materials and allow application of course materials. The final exam for the class will be comprehensive.

BRIEFING PAPERS:

Each student will prepare two briefing papers during the semester. One briefing paper will deal with an individual in U.S. history. Please focus on individuals who made significant contributions, but who may be less well-known. One briefing paper will deal with a key issue that continues to be an issue in the U.S. Congress.
Each briefing paper should be no more than 3 pages (typed and double-spaced, not including citations and references.

Each briefing paper about the individual will include at least the following information:
I. Concise biography.
II. Contributions of individual to U.S. history.
III. Current status of those contributions.
IV. Your analysis of the importance of those contributions to the study of U.S. history.
V. List at least five sources for additional reading. These do not include the references that you use for your citations.

Please confer with the instruction about an appropriate subject for the briefing paper about the key issue.

For your briefing paper, include:
I. Information about the issue. Does it represent a legal, ethical, or political question? What provides the foundation for analysis of the issue?
II. A summary of the facts of the issue you are examining.
III. A summary of the positions of the opposing sides of the issue.
IV. Your analysis of the importance of this issue to the study of U.S. history.
V. List at least five sources for additional reading. These do not include the references that you use for your citations.

Students may do the briefing papers in the order they wish.

GRADES:

Grading Scale

Grading for the class will be as follows:

PLAGIARISM