Institution: Irvine Valley College Location: Irvine, CA Participant: Brittany Adams Year: 2016
This is a sample list of some of the major topics that I have included as I have restructured the beginning of my US history survey course to incorporate more regional history into the early survey and to de-center the British colonial narrative. Most of my revisions focus on the 16th, 17th, and 18th century as listed below: Week One: Course Intro- Pre-history to mid 16th century
- Examinations of Western Europe, major West African kingdoms, and North American indigenous groups prior to first encounters
Week Two: European Colonization- Jesuit missionizing in Huron society
- Early settlement in Virginia
- Puritan settlements
- The New Netherlands
Week Three: The Myth of the Thirteen Colonies- Comparative Spanish, French, and English settlements in the early to mid 1600s
Week Four: Colonial Era- Choctaw-Chicasaw War and the settlement of Louisiana
- Migrations across the Atlantic
- Explorations of California
Week Five: Colonial Era, II- Developments in colonial Santa Fe
- Spanish developments in Florida and the growth of escaped slaves from British colonies
- Comparative definitions of race in legal codes across different empires
Week Six: Prelude to Independence from England- Causes of revolt
- Examination of other colonial empires and other forms of resistance/conflict in Spanish and French empires
Week Seven: American Revolution and the Continued Colonial Era in the West- Role of France and Spain in alliances with the American Independence movement
- French and Spanish colonialism in the West
Week Eight: Early Republic- Comparative examination of The American Revolution with the Haitian Revolution, Mexican Independence from Spain, and French Revolution
Week Nine: Early Nationalist Era/ FederalismThis week I do take a more traditional look at foundations for early American government - The Napoleonic Code in Louisiana
Week Ten: Jeffersonian Politics and the War of 1812- The Growth of Early American Nationalism
Week Eleven: Nationalist Expansion and Economic Shifts- Tejano culture Santa Fe Trail
Week Twelve: The Era of the Common Man- Democratic Systems and popular politics during growing entrenchment of slavery
Week Fourteen: Westward Expansion- Mexican-American War
- Gold Rush(es) across borderlands regions
Week Fifteen: Slavery and Sectionalism- Failed compromises and questions over the extension of slavery in newly incorporated territories
Week Sixteen: Civil War- The development of the US postal system and the building of Fort Point (a Civil War era fort built in San Francisco)
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