HIST 4316 201: Colonial America: Dis-1763

Additional Course Description

Only within the last generation has America passed the point where its chronological age as a nation surpassed the time it spent as colonies of various European Powers.   By the time that England settled in Virginia, European exploration of the New World was over 100 years old.  By the second half of the sixteenth century, Northern Europeans had set up several temporary fishing stations along the Atlantic Coast. Adding in the history of the Native Americans means that much more happened in the geographic area that would become the United States prior to the ratification of the U. S. Constitution than before.  This course seeks to examine the Colonial Era of American History using as a framework Gary Nash’s argument that the discovery of America did not represent the discovery of a New World, but the clash of multiple Old Worlds out of which new cultures developed.  It goes out of the regular framework of examining the formation and the development of the British mainland colonies to include New France, and some of New Spain.  While these colonies are often left out of Colonial American History Classes, all of New France east of the Mississippi River became part of the new American nation at the end of the Revolutionary War and thus merits inclusion into any examination of the American colonial period. 

            The course will follow a layout that is loosely chronologic and divided up geographically into several modules.  Module I-America prior to Columbus, Module II-Cultural Contact and the preeminence of Spain,  Module III-Development of the Chesapeake, Module IV-Development of New England, Module V-Development of the Middle Colonies, Module VI-Development of the Low Countries, Module VII-Development of New France and Module VIII-The Collision of the Seven Years War.  Within these modules we will discuss slavery, gender, economy, culture and culture conflict, politics, government, and war.

            I have several major goals for this class.  First, I hope to dismantle the Jamestown to Revolution framework of the colonial era.  The colonial era was an era of continuous clash and acculturation of multiple European, African, and American ethnicities.  As these populations intermixed, they made choices according to what they felt like would provide them the maximum good for the situation they were in.  Second, I hope to dispel the hierarchy of cultures myth.  I hope that students will leave the class with a new appreciation for all of the interrelated cultures that we study.  Last, students will begin to understand what it means to be a historian.  By focusing on critical writing and creating both a book review and a research paper, students will gain skills necessary to succeed in the discipline of history as well as in life.

Expectations

            For most students beginning this class I expect that their only experience with the topic will have come from HIST 1301.  I also expect them to know what it takes to succeed in an upper division college class.  Critical analysis is a vital component of this course and as such I expect students to come to class having critically read the weekly reading assignment and formulated questions for class discussion.  Analytic writing also makes up a vital part of the course.   This class is for serious students of history.  The assignments and discussions will teach students both about history and the work of historians including delving into historiographical arguments. 

            I treat my students with common courtesy and ask that they do the same to me and their peers.  Swearing, racial and ethnic epithets, and sexist remarks create a hostile learning environment and will not be tolerated.  In this class you will learn what it is like to become part of the historical community and as such I will expect you to be respectful and professional in class.

• CO1: Define the difference between primary and secondary sources.
• CO2: Learn how to interact with this community in the student’s research.
• CO3: Prepare and write a primary source-based research essay that is properly formatted and cited.
• CO4: Understand the essential elements and create a critical book review including both academic criticism and praise.
• CO5: Demonstrate their analytic skills through the creation of an academic review of a historical website skills.
• CO6: Complete the Module Learning Outcomes.
  • Module 1-Pre-Columbian America
    • Identify on a map the major Native American zones in North America.
    • For each of these specific zones the students will be able to explain the major cultural differences, environment and dominant peoples.
  • Module 2-Contact and Spanish Colonization
    • Students will define the Columbian Exchange, specify how it affected both sides of the Atlantic and explain how both culture and environment (including ecology) affected Cross cultural contact.
    • Show Spain’s role in primary contact and look at the Spanish Colonies.
  • Module 3-the Chesapeake
    • Identify the world factors that went into the English settlement of the Chesapeake. 
    • Students will be able to elaborate on the foundation and development of colonial society in the Chesapeake as well as explain the nuances of different population groups within the society.
  • Module 4-New England
    • Students will specify the influence of Calvinism in the settlement of New England.
    • Students will understand and be able to explain the cultural forces that influenced settlement of New England.
    • Students will articulate the roles of gender, religion, class, and race in New England society.
  • Module 5-Middle Colonies,
    • Students will identify differences between settlers in the Middle Colonies, and other areas.
    • Students will explain some of the origin of the Middle Colonies that make them unique.
  • Module 6-the Low Country
    • Students will articulate the difference between tobacco culture and rice culture.
  • Module 7-New France
    • Students will elaborate on the role that New France played in the formation of Colonial America.
    • Students will identify the interconnection between New France, the Illinois Country, and Louisiana and explain metis and couers de bois culture.
  • Module 8-the Seven Years War
    • Students will define the underlying causes of the Seven Years War.
    • Students will explain the major players in the war, both empires and individuals, and the roles that they played in the conflict

To go to the bookstore, click here.

• Subscription to TopHat (you can get it at the bookstore but it is substantially cheaper if you buy it directly from their website)
  • YOUR TOPHAT COURSE CODE FOR THIS CLASS IS 947044.
  • You will need access to TopHat to answer questions, interact with others.
  • TopHat will also take attendance

Other readings will be provided by the instructor

I.Grading and Evaluation

Final Grade Breakdown

            Evaluation points will be awarded for class participation, an H-Net Assignment, a historical website review, a book review, a research paper, a midterm and final.

Participation: I think that busywork is generally for high school but I will not refrain from assigning it if class members refuse to participate in class discussion.  Class participation will make up 20% of your final grade.  These points will be awarded for overall performance at the end of the semester based on participation in class discussion, in class writing assignments, short reaction papers, reading text beforehand, participation in class debates, and overall readiness for class. In this class, we will be utilizing an interface called Top Hat.  At the beginning of every class there will be a question posted to get your brains flowing. The question will shut off three minutes after class starts. During class time, I will have questions that will require you to input feedback.  There is a small fee associated with Top Hat that you will have to pay, but it will be good for the rest of your time here at TAMIU.  It will be your responsibility to make sure that you have subscribed to Top Hat and enrolled in my course by the first part of Week 2. There are instructions at the end of the syllabus for enrolling in Top Hat.  Make sure that you get enrolled by the first of week 2. Failure to do so will dramatically affect your PARTICIPATION GRADE. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CHECK AND MAKE SURE THAT TOP HAT IS RECORDING YOUR ANSWERS. If there is an issue you need to be proactive in getting it fixed.

Material Culture Assignment:  For this assignment, you will be able to create or bring to the class something of common use during the colonial era.  You will present this to the class through random assignment, and we will do these presentations on Friday.  I will give you more information in the paper prompt for the class. It will be 5% of your final grade.

Book Review: The first writing assignment will be a book review of Daniel Richter’s Facing East from Indian Country.  Book reviews will be approximately 1000 words and will comprise 10% of the final grade.  They will be due as indicated on the schedule portion of the syllabus.  There is more info about the writing a book review provided at the end of this syllabus.

Historical Website Review: We live in a digital age and as budding historians this provides you with great opportunities, as well as serious pitfalls.  For this assignment you will be doing an academic review of a historical website of your choosing. In many ways this assignment will be similar to the Book Review in that you will be examining content, format, etc.  However this will add in elements of user interface. This will be due as indicated on the syllabus and will be worth five percent of your final grade. I will provide additional info later in the course.

Research Paper: Students will write a research paper on a historical topic taken from the colonial era. All topics must be approved by the professor before submission of the final paper. You will do this by submitting a half-page proposal of the project you would like to do along with an initial bibliography by the due date indicated on the course schedule in the syllabus. In the semester you will be required to meet with me individually to go over your project, show me your progress and ask me any question that you may have. You will also submit a rough draft several weeks prior to the final draft as indicated on the syllabus schedule. The project proposal and bibliography will be 5% of your total grade, the meeting 5%, the rough draft 15%, and the paper 10%.  You will cite the paper using the Chicago Manual of Style footnotes and reference list. I will provide additional info on the Research Paper later in the course but please make sure that you ask me if you have any questions.

Exams: There will be two tests. The midterm will be 12% of the final grade.  It will be divided into three parts, a map section, an ID section, and an essay section.  The IDs will be over the stuff that we have discussed in class. The essay will be a question on Edmund Morgan’s The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. The final will have a comprehensive multiple choice section, an ID section, and an essay.  For this essay you will be answering an essay question from Fred Anderson’s The War that Made America. The final will be 15% of your final grade.

To understand grades better, become familiar with the following chart.

To understand grades better, become familiar with the following chart.

Grading Policies

Grade	Value
GRADE	PERCENTAGE
A	91-100
B	80-90.9
C	70-79.9
D	60-69.9
F	Below 60

Grading Policies

Grade	Value
ASSIGNMENT	VALUE
Participation	20%
Book Review	10%
Material Culture Assignment	5%
Historical Website Review	5%
Paper Proposal	5%
Research Meeting	5%
Rough Draft	15%
Research Paper	10%
Midterm	12%
Final Exam	15%
Total for Course	100%

Participation/Attendance

Class Attendance Required

Students are expected to attend every class in person and to complete all assignments. If a student cannot attend class, it is his/her responsibility to communicate absences with professors.  The professor will decide if the student’s excuse is valid.  According to university policy, as listed in the Student Handbook, excused absences, which cannot affect a student’s grade, include:

• Participation in an authorized university activity at the request of university authorities.
• Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family.
• Illness of a dependent family member.
• Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
• Religious Holy days/days of obligation.
• A pregnant/parenting student must be granted a leave of absence (LOA) for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary.
• Illness/injury that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
• Required participation in military assignment and duties.
• Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school, which cannot be rescheduled.

Students are responsible for providing satisfactory evidence to professors within seven calendar days of their absence and are expected to return to class. If the absence is excused, the professor will either allow access to lecture recordings (if available), provide students with the opportunity to make up missed work, including exams, or provide a satisfactory alternative to complete the work within 30 calendar days from the date of absence.

Students who miss class due to a university-sponsored activity are responsible for identifying their absences to faculty with as much advance notice as possible. Students are responsible for all work assigned during their absence. Whenever possible, students should complete the work either before the absence or immediately afterward.

If an off-campus licensed physician provides evidence of a student’s illness, the written excuse, orders, or documentation must contain the date and time of the doctor’s appointment, the prognosis of illness, doctor’s opinion, and recommendations for the individual student. In addition, the notice should outline whether or not the student is able to attend class. If a physician determines that the student is not ill, the student will not receive an excused absence. If an absence is not an excused absence, the faculty member will decide whether makeup work will be allowed.

In some courses, attendance and in-class participation are ongoing requirements and an integral part of the coursework. In other courses, occasional in-class assessments may occur, sometimes without advance notice. It is the responsibility of the professor to inform each class at the beginning of the semester of the in-class participation expected and the effect absences will have on the student’s evaluation of work in the course. It is the student's responsibility to abide by the professor’s instructions and rules in the course.

If you do not attend class, you may be removed from the course by the Registrar.  This may cause you to lose your financial aid.  Furthermore, I will look for an amalgamation of information from both lecture and the text in your essays. Regular attendance will also prove to me that you are interested in the class and will give you the benefit of the doubt at the end of the semester.  Notice that all the things associated with attending class are good, and all the things associated with not attending are bad. 

Classroom Behavior

TAMIU encourages classroom discussion and academic debate as an essential intellectual activity. It is essential that students learn to express and defend their beliefs, but it is also essential that they learn to listen and respond respectfully to others whose beliefs they may not share. The College will always tolerate diverse, unorthodox, and unpopular points of view, but it will not tolerate condescending or insulting remarks. When students verbally abuse or ridicule and intimidate others whose views they do not agree with, they subvert the free exchange of ideas that should characterize a university classroom. If their actions are deemed by the professor to be disruptive, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, which may include being involuntarily withdrawn from the class.

I. Academic Honesty.

TAMIU Honor Code: Plagiarism and Cheating

The university is committed to strict enforcement of the Honor Code. Students should conduct themselves ethically in all activities, in and out of the classroom. Ethical behavior also includes reporting violations of the Honor Code to the appropriate office. Please read the Student Handbook to review the university’s Honor Code.

There are several violations of the Honor Code that involve plagiarism and cheating.

1. Plagiarism: The act of passing off some other person’s ideas, words, or works as one’s own. It includes, but is not limited to, the appropriating, buying, receiving as a “gift,” or obtaining, by any other means, another’s work for submission as one’s own academic work. Examples include, but are not limited to:
   1. Failing to credit sources used in a work product in an attempt to present the work as one’s own.
   2. Intentionally, knowingly, or carelessly presenting the work of another as one’s own (i.e., without crediting the author or creator).
   3. Copying test answers or the words or phrases of another without crediting the author or claiming credit for the ideas of another.
   4. Borrowing or lending a term paper, handing in as your own work a paper purchased from an individual or off the Internet, or submitting, as one's own any papers or work product from the files of any group, club, or organization.
   5. Submitting the same paper in more than one class without the permission of the instructor.

Students must provide citations for facts, ideas, and opinions that are not their own. If students are unsure about providing proper documentation, they are encouraged to seek advice from professors or the Academic Center of Excellence (ACE). It is the professor’s prerogative to ask students to submit work to one of TAMIU’s Plagiarism detection tools: Turnitin or Blackboard’s SafeAssign.

Professors must report incidents of plagiarism to the Honor Council. It is the professor’s prerogative and/or discretion, to issue an “F” in the course should he/she discover that a student has committed plagiarism. The professor, however, may elect to give students, particularly freshmen and sophomore students, a “zero” for the assignment if he/she believes that the student plagiarized out of carelessness and not out of an attempt to deceive the professor to earn an unmerited grade. Serious cases of plagiarism, especially those that involve flagrant incidents of plagiarism by graduate or doctoral students, may lead to suspension or expulsion from the university.

1. Cheating: An act of deception in which a student misrepresents that he/she has mastered information related to an academic exercise. Examples include, but are not limited to:
   1. Copying from another student’s test, lab report, computer file, data listing, logs, or any other type of report or academic exercise.
   2. Using unauthorized materials during a test. Consulting a cell phone, text messages, PDAs, programmable calculators with materials that give an advantage over other students during an exam.
   3. Using crib sheets or other hidden notes in an examination or looking at another student's test paper to copy strategies or answers.
   4. Having another person supply questions or answers from an examination to be given or in progress.
   5. Having a person other than oneself (registered for the class) attempt to take or take an examination or any other graded activity. In these cases, all consenting parties to the attempt to gain unfair advantage may be charged with an Honor Pledge violation.
   6. Deliberately falsifying laboratory results, or submission of samples or findings not legitimately derived in the situation and by the procedures prescribed or allowable.
   7. Revising and resubmitting a quiz or exam for regrading, without the instructor's knowledge and consent.
   8. Giving or receiving unauthorized aid on a take-home examination.
   9. Facilitating academic violation: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate the Honor Pledge.
   10. Signing in another student's name on attendance sheets, rosters, Scantrons.
   11. Submitting in a paper, thesis, lab report, or other academic exercise falsified, invented, or fictitious data or evidence, or deliberate or knowingly concealing or distorting the true nature, origin, or function of such data or evidence.
   12. Procuring and/or altering without permission from appropriate authority of examinations, papers, lab reports, or other academic exercises, whether discarded or used, and either before or after such materials have been handed in to the appropriate recipient.
   13. Using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, soliciting, copying or possessing, the contents of an un-administered test, a required assignment or a past test which has, by the professor, not been allowed to be kept by their students.
   14. Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT. Unless allowed by each professor, students are expected to complete each assignment without assistance from others, including automated writing tools.

It is important to note that professors may ask students to work in groups. However, if someone in a group commits academic misconduct, the entire group could be held responsible for it as well. Members of groups must clearly document who contributes what parts of the joint project and to know what group members are doing and how they are getting the material they provide. Ignorance is no excuse.

It is also important to be aware of group texts or chats. If another student is attempting to violate the Honor Code, it is your ethical responsibility to report him/her to the Honor Council. Again, membership in a group that attempts or engages in cheating may lead to all members of the group being subject to disciplinary action including suspension or expulsion.

Should professors discover that a student has cheated on an exam or quiz or other class project, the student should receive a “zero” for the assignment and not be allowed to make the assignment up. The incident should be reported to the Honor Council. If the cheating is extensive, however, or if the assignment constitutes a major grade for the course (e.g., a final exam), or if the student has cheated in the past, the student should receive an “F” in the course, and the matter should be referred to the Honor Council. Additional penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the university may be imposed. Under no circumstances should a student who deserves an “F” in the course be allowed to withdraw from the course with a “W.”

Student Right of Appeal:  Students have the right to appeal a faculty member’s charge of academic dishonesty by notifying the TAMIU Honor Council of their intent to appeal as long as the notification of appeal comes within 10 business days of the faculty member’s e-mail message to the student and/or the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement. The Student Handbook provides more details.

AI for this course.

Generative AI in any of its iterations is strictly prohibited.  You may use spelling and grammar checkers with AI turned off. If you use Grammarly or any other assistive technology, you MUST TURN OFF the AI features.  If you use AI for any writing in this course, you will receive a zero for the assignment.  If you wish, you can appeal to me. I consider AI use for writing in this course as a violation of the Student Course of Conduct.

Use of Work in Two or More Courses

You may not submit work completed in one course for a grade in a second course unless you receive explicit permission to do so by the instructor of the second course.

Minimum Technical Skills Expected

When participating in any course that has essential online components, it is vital to consider the technology involved in order to have a successful course. Students in distance education should have knowledge of basic computer and Internet skills, as mentioned on the Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ webpage.

Accommodations/Accessibility Policy

Texas A&M International University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal education opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Director of Student Counseling and to contact the faculty member in a timely fashion to arrange for suitable accommodations. For more information, contact the online at Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), or via phone at 956.326.2230, or by visiting the staff at the Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, room 138. A link to the Disabilities Services for Students site has also been included under the "Resources" tab inside the course.

Student Support Resources

The University wishes to have all students succeed in their courses. To provide support to our students, an array of services in the areas of technology support, academic support, student support, and accessibility support may be found at the University. For more information, visit Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ page on University Resources and Support Services.

Student-Instructor Communication Policy and Response Time

Announcements

I will announce in class and post in blackboard using Announcements any communications that need to go to the whole class. 

You will need to make sure that you are staying up with the changes and the additional information that you will be getting going on throughout the semester.  I commit to keep communication lines open, but you need to be attending class in person or online AND you need to keep abreast of the announcements.  I will enable the feature that sends important announcements directly to your email, but please DO NOT rely on this.

Course Messages/Emails

I will try to answer all emails or course messages within two business days.  I prefer that you use Blackboard Course Messages so that I automatically know who you are and what course you are in. If you email me, please make sure that you introduce yourself and put your course number and section.

Assignments and Assessments

In grading your assignments I try and get them back to you as soon as possible.  Multiple Choice quizzes will be graded right away.  The exams with writing components will be graded within two weeks. The larger writing assignments will be graded within a month of the due date.

Course Communication Guidelines (Netiquette)

1. I treat my students with common courtesy and ask that they do the same to me and their peers. 
2. Swearing, racial and ethnic epithets, and sexist remarks create a hostile learning environment and will not be tolerated.
3. I do not expect everybody to have the same opinion and we will strive together to create an atmosphere where everyone will feel comfortable expressing varied scholarly opinions without fear of reprisal.
4. Prior to class all students will SILENCE all superfluous external electronic apparatuses.
5. I will allow you to take notes on laptops, tablets, or IPads, but not on cell phones without prior consent, DON’T ABUSE THIS PRIVILEGE!!!!! If you are using your cell phone, laptop, IPad or any other electronic device in an unauthorized way, you will be asked to leave and not come back until the next class period. 
6. Please be in your seats ready to participate on time and stay for the full class period. Please only leave class in cases of emergency.
7. If you need to have a guest come with you to class, please let me know before class.  (Be warned that every class I have is full to capacity as of the start of the semester and also we will be discussing many different sensitive topics.)
8. If you have an unavoidable conflict that you know will require you to leave class early, please notify me beforehand and sit towards the back of the room.

There are course expectations concerning etiquette or how we should treat each other online. It is vital that we consider these values as we communicate with one another. Visit Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services’ web page on Netiquette for further instruction.

II.Technology Requirements

Technology

I utilize technology regularly in this course including Blackboard, Echo360 and tophat.

TopHat—TopHat allows me as an instructor to engage the class with both analytical and informational questions. There is a small fee associated with Top Hat that you will have to pay, but it will be good for all classes that you have this semester that use TopHat OR all classes that use TopHat for the rest of your time here at TAMIU (depending on which subscription that you choose).  It will be your responsibility to make sure that you have subscribed to Top Hat and enrolled in my course by the first part of Week 2.  Please discuss with me any concerns that you have with getting TopHat ASAP.

Black Board—YOU WILL HAVE TO BE VERY FAMILIAR WITH BLACKBOARD.  The quizzes that you will be taking will be on Blackboard as will the Echo360 recordings of lecture. Blackboard will be very useful to you in finding out your grades and sending and receiving emails from me. Please talk to me if this is going to be a problem for you at all.

Echo360—All the lectures and Power Points will be captured and uploaded to Black Board within hours of the lecture using Echo360. I do so to supplement your ability to do well in the class, not to replace your attendance in class. THIS IS NOT TO REPLACE CLASS ATTENDANCE AND NOTES, IT IS TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR NOTES AND ASSIST AUDITORY LEARNERS. My Power Points are by no means comprehensive and you will be expected to take notes during class time activities. Please keep in mind that the technology does not always work as well as we might wish, so you should not rely solely on them.  This will not allow you to make up any participation points that you miss in class.

Learning Management System (Blackboard)

Students are provided with guides on how to use the Blackboard LMS. Guides may be available at Instructional Technology and Distance Education Services' Student eLearning Tutorial Videos page or by contacting the eLearning team at elearning@tamiu.edu.

Technical Support Services

Because of the nature of distance education courses, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) computing and information services are vital to the success of online students. This webpage covers contact information for Distance Education Services (Blackboard Support), the OIT Help Desk, and E-mail support: Technical Support Services.

• CONTACT CHAIN YOU SHOULD FOLLOW FOR TECHNOLOGY PROBLEMS.
  • Problems with Blackboard—OIT, me.
  • Problems with TopHat—TopHat Support, OIT, me.
  • Problems with Echo360—OIT, me.
  • Problems with access to specific items in the course Blackboard site—me.

Late Work Policy and Extra Credit

If you know that you are going to miss a class it is imperative that you contact me BEFORE the due date to see what can be done. I will work with you to see if you can get the assignment done before the due date if at all possible. I significantly downgrade unexcused late work. I usually dock one letter grade for every two days that an assignment is late.

If you have to unavoidably miss a test due to illness, injury, or some other catastrophe, you need to let me know BEFORE THE EXAM if possible.  Only those with my express permission will be able to make up the midterm. THERE IS NO MAKEUP FOR THE FINAL.

I also do not assign extra credit assignments except on very special occasions when it will be offered to the whole class. The key to all of this is for you as a student to keep an open line of communication with me.

Course Evaluation

At the end of this course, students are encouraged to complete a course evaluation that will be distributed to them via email and through a course link.