LibGuides: American History 1--HIST 2111 (OER): Teaching Resources (Updated Fall 2023)

Affordable Learning Georgia Grant - Round 22 (Fall 2023)

This page hosts the new materials created using an Affordable Learning Georgia Continuous Improvement Grant (round 22), which concluded in December 2023.

The terms of the grant proposal called for the creation of the following resources:

Central (Thematic) Organizing Questions - The revision will include news central questions for each week or module of materials that provide cohesive themes and overarching questions to guide the general direction of both learning and instruction.
Teaching & Learning Activities - we plan to develop a number of assignments and activities based on primary historical documents and short secondary sources such as academic journal articles. These assignments and activities include short answer document-based questions, group discussion questions and think, pair, share activities for face-to-face classes, discussion questions for online classes, and short writing assignments. These materials will be organized into online packets that are ready-made for eight-week classes.
Primary Source Packets - We will create primary source packets to accompany the teaching and learning activities described above.
New Test Bank - Revision & expansion of the multiple-choice questions currently used in the quizzes and exams of our four main survey classes. Our revision efforts along these lines will strive to test higher-order thinking instead of merely testing students’ abilities to recall basic historical facts. We will revise existing questions and write new multiple-choice questions such that we have questions that fit into categories such as Chronology, Historical Thinking, Data Analysis, and Source Application. This will create a broad pool of higher-quality questions that will sharpen the critical thinking skills and historical knowledge of our students and serve instructors of our survey courses well for years to come. There will be fewer "Google-able" questions based on rote memorization.

Resources are available below.

Central (Thematic) Organizing Questions for Modules

Module 1: Colliding Cultures (Indigenous Americas - 1620)

The American Yawp Chapters 1-2
Central Question: How did the collision of European, African, and Native American cultures shape the early history of North America?

Module 2: Creating Anglo-America (1620-1770)

The American Yawp Chapters 3-4
Central Question: How did British colonial settlement and early American culture take shape in the 17th and 18th centuries?

Module 3: The American Revolution (1770-1787)

The American Yawp Chapter 5
Central Question: Why did the American colonies rebel against British rule, and how did they create a new nation?

Module 4: Constitution & Early Republic (1787-1820)

The American Yawp Chapters 6-7
Central Question: How did debates over the Constitution and the establishment of the new republic shape the character of the early United States?

Module 5: A Changing Nation (1820-1850)

The American Yawp Chapters 8, 10, 11
Central Question: How did economic changes, & the expansion of slavery transform American society in the first half of the 19th century?

Module 6: An Expanding Nation (1820-1850)

The American Yawp Chapters 9 & 12
Central Question: How did debates over slavery and westward expansion deepen divisions in the nation in the first half of the 19th century?

Module 7: Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1865)

The American Yawp Chapters 13-14
Central Question: What led to the Civil War, and how did the war transform the nation?

Module 8 - Reconstruction (1865-1877)

The American Yawp Chapter 15
Central Question: How did the nation struggle to rebuild and redefine itself in the aftermath of the Civil War?

Primary Source Packets

Teaching & Learning Activities

Module 1: Colliding Cultures Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the complex interplay between European, African, and Indigenous American cultures until 1620
Module 2: Creating Anglo-America Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the changing nature of colonial society from 1620-1770. Particular attention is paid to the impact of immigration, slavery, economic growth, and changing religious beliefs in this period.
Module 3: The American Revolution Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the causes of the American Revolution. Particular attention is paid to differing motivations for/perspectives on independence in order to challenge common assumptions about the universal nature of support for the Revolution.
Module 4: Constitution & Early Republic Leaning Activities
Questions and activities related to the context and debates surrounding the US Constitution. Particular attention is paid to discussion and compromises concerning federalism and slavery,
Module 5: A Changing Nation Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the social and economic changes that reshaped the US from 1820-1850. Special attention is paid to the Market Revolution, the Cotton Kingdom, economic sectionalism, and early attempts at reform.
Module 6: An Expanding Nation Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the political and territorial changes that reshaped the US from 1820-1850. Special attention is paid to the expansion of democracy (and its limits), the new political culture of the Age of Jackson, Manifest Destiny, and westward expansion.
Module 7: Civil War Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to the Civil War. This unit begins with the crisis of the 1850s and ends with the Confederate surrender in 1865.
Module 8: Reconstruction Learning Activities
Questions and activities related to Reconstruction, 1865-1877