UNIT OF STUDY AIMS   THEMES: You will expand your knowledge of three important themes in the period of American history we cover: Cultural Contact The early history of the United States is dominated by the meeting of different cultures, contacts that established the consciousness and patterns that shaped the settlement of North America. How should those contacts be characterized: as encounter, confrontation, exchange, invasion, or invention? How did the different European groups who came to North America differ in their reaction to the land and its inhabitants? Why did Native Americans react as they did?   Making a Revolution The defining moment in the early history of the United States is the American Revolution; yet American colonists appeared unlikely revolutionaries. What were origins and nature of European colonies? How did European settlement develop? How did structures of colonial life cause Americans to feel under threat? Why did the colonists revolt? How were the colonists able to come together to fight the British? Why did the revolution succeed?   Making a Nation Having shaken off British rule, the Americans still had to convert their revolution into a new nation and maintain the unity they had achieved. On what basis was the United States founded? Did the new nation remain true to the ideals of the revolution? What impact did the growth of capitalism and the broader 'market revolution' it provoked have on the United States? Why did the new nation dissolve into Civil War? SKILLS: You will develop the skills of critical analysis, communication and organization: we will not only read what historians say, but we will do what they do. Skills in Analysis. You will critically read a variety of different primary documents ~ documents produced by people from the historical moments we are studying such as autobiographies, sermons, images, songs, reviews, advertisements, pamphlets, speeches and laws. You will learn to consider what sources tell us about the past and what they do not tell us, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses, biases and distortions of particular types of evidence. You will learn to consider how sources convey meaning ~ the language, forms, assumptions, images, symbols they use ~ as well as their contents are crucial to what they tell us about the past. You will also read historians' interpretations and critically assess their arguments. The skill of critical reading involves not only trying to understand the interpretation put forward by a historian, but assessing the strengths and weaknesses of those arguments. You will learn to examine the evidence historians use to support their arguments and compare your interpretation of these sources with those of historians, as well as considering how far their arguments agree with other sources. You will also learn to analyze critically the different ways in which historical issues may be approached and understood, by recognizing the existence of competing interpretations, distinguishing the assumptions and evidence on which they are based and assessing their arguments. Both the tutorials and the essay topics make significant use of material available on the internet. In completing your assignments, you will learn to apply your skills of analysis to web-based sources and to take advantage of the flexibility and accessibility of web-based material to make your own way through sources and achieve a critical understanding by pursuing what interests you.   Skills in Verbal and Written Communication: The written assignments will teach you the skills of formulating in appropriate language the understanding and opinions you have developed from your analysis of documents and the work of historians, organizing them in a logical and persuasive order, and supporting them with evidence. The tutorial paper is a short analysis of a limited set of sources. You will learn to communicate your close critical analysis of these sources and how to relate it to larger historical questions and debates. The essay will build on the tutorial paper and teach you to sustain an argument at some length. You will learn to analyze and identify significant documents from collections of primary sources available on the web as part of formulating your own argument in answer to the question. In the take home examination, the emphasis is on your ability to consolidate your knowledge and understanding, to reflect on what you have written earlier and to gather and express your thoughts more rapidly. For the examination, you will need to have organized and supplemented your knowledge and understanding of the issues covered in tutorials and lectures. The examination will give you the opportunity to answer a question on the topic of your essay, to allow you to reflect on and respond to the comments you received, and to deepen your understanding by exploring the topic from another angle. In the tutorials, you will learn to listen and absorb the ideas of others, and respond to their ideas, as well as develop and express your own ideas, respond to constructive criticism and be ready to change or discard your argument in favor of one that is more convincing.   Skills in organization This unit of study requires you to manage your time. To perform effectively, you must: Attend all lectures and tutorials ~ and arrive on time. Keep up with the reading. Meet your deadlines. If you meet all these demands, you will have developed good working habits that you can transfer to other studies and occupations.