Assignment task:
For this assignment, please take in the Big Story of U.S. History. The History of the United States to 1877 c.e./a.d. Remember where we started the course -- among the native peoples and their civilizations -- and how suddenly and decisively Europeans entered the picture; remember the religious and imperial conflicts, the start of race-based slavery, and the growth of a handful of colonies into (or almost into) a world power. Remember the women and children in Northern factories, the genocidal fury that almost decimated the native peoples, the slave auction blocks in the great cities of the South, and the courage it must have taken to toss all you owned in a Conestoga wagon and set out for the frontier on the Oregon Trail in 1843. As you gaze at that Big Story, please answer the questions below.
1. What one or two persons or events stood out for you in our class? And why did they stand out? Discuss your answers.
2. What shocked or surprised you most about the history we learned in our course? Why did it shock you?
3. Has this course changed your view of the history of the U.S. from the view that you had at the start of the course? If so, how? If not, why not?
4. What was missing from this course that should have been in it? Why should these things have been in it? List as many items as you want. Please be candid.