Course description
This course – “American Revolution and the Current Issues” is a four-unit course designed to assist students in understanding that the American Revolution is one of the significant periods in the world’s history. The course will involve studying both the causes of the war and the main stages of the revolution. The revolution comprises of a remarkable story of thirteen American revolutionary colonies fighting to become a confederation of states. This course examines the causes, the war, and the impacts of the revolution (Morton, 2003).
The student will learn on the emerging patterns of resistance, and the application of petitions, intimidation, pamphlets, boycotts, and inter-colonial meeting in the US political development. The student will as well learn about a series of events and coercive activities like the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party, which influenced the relationship between the US colonies and the British government.
The course will also pursue the governing of the newly formed Union under the Articles of Confederation. In general, this course conducts a critical analysis of the American Revolution from a broad perspective, tracking the transformation of participants, from being the British subjects, settlers, revolutionaries, and as American citizens (Morton, 2003).
Course Learning Outcomes
The understanding of the critical issues in the history of the American Revolution will make the students intellectually understand the subsequent wars in American History and the events that may occur later. It will make the students understand the justification of the American Revolution and any other revolution forwarded for the liberation of humanity (Morton, 2003). The students will be able to identify how the revolution affected the relationship between colonies and the British government.
The course, therefore, will assist the students in examining in a broad sense the current US foreign relation policies. The students will be able to track the Indo-American, Franco-American and Anglo-American relationships. The course will help the students to identify the essential freedoms worth demanding. Moreover, the course will bring into limelight the long social relationship between man and woman, master and slave, parent and child, colonial and colonialist, constituent, and representative (Butler, 2001). The impact of these relationships on the founding of the nation will be well understood.
For instance, the students will appreciate the role of women and slaves in the making of American history. Furthermore, the students will be able to identify the founding fathers in American history. The role of their activities on the current government will be understood and appreciated. The students will also be able to establish benchmarks in their own values and examine them in respect to the American Revolution.
The Course Design
This course is a four-unit course: Political development in the US and Britain before and during the American Revolution; American Revolution as military, cultural and social events; the Articles of Confederation and the founding Fathers. The topics in each unit are given in the outlines.
This design integrates both issues involved in the American Revolution and the current governance. The students would be able to identify the real issues that led to the revolution, confirm from the current situations if the issues had totally been solved. The use of videos as multimedia will lead to the involvement of students in the course. This will increase their interest and desire to find out what actually happened during the revolution. The choice of the topics in each unit all involves the issues of governance, issues that are still matters of concern in the current situation.
Assessment
Assessment will be based on each unit. It will be done through continuous assessment tests that make up to 30 percent, one research paper unit of 20 percent, and the main examination that contributes 50 percent of the total marks. Research questions will be given two weeks towards the end of the unit and due after 14 days.
Learning Activities for the Effectiveness of Teaching
This course will involve classwork through narration from both lecturers and students. Other activities will include group work in which the students will discuss issues that led to the making of the founding fathers. Each group will have a leader who will take the roles and activities of the founding fathers, for instance, George Washington. The groups will research on the actions of the founding father from the prior to the revolution until when both the Virginia and New Jersey plans were written. Students will also be involved in visitation to historical sites and museums. All these are geared towards the effectiveness of teaching and the involvement of students in learning.
Strategy in Teaching the Units
Unit 1
This unit is introduced by a three-minute video, “The rising of sons of humanity” (Butler, 2001), which is available on DVD and online. The video will give the students the thrust and the desire to understand the political developments that followed. The students will then take fifteen minutes to discuss the movie. This strategy will make an individual student feel that he/she is a part of the sons of liberty and other nationalists who were fighting in the revolution (Hattori, 2010).
Unit 2
In the first lecture of this unit, the students will be given copies of image 1 for their own interpretation. Image 1 is about the revolution as a military event. This strategy will set the stage for a more vivid discussion on revolution as a military and a social event. The students will also watch video 2, “The American War of independence” (Morton, 2003). This will give them a glimpse of what took place.
Unit 3
Copies of the article of Confederation will be given to students to identify particular issues that were never addressed by the Articles. This strategy will begin discussions on the policymaking process. Students will be required to form groups in which they will form governance policies for the management of the class. The class will watch video 3, “Articles of Confederation before the constitution” (Applewood Books, 2006). This video will offer the students a glimpse of the process of writing the articles.
Unit 4
The lecture will begin with students asking who the founding fathers were and the role of them. From the students’ responses, the lecturer will identify the little known founding father, thus assist him/her plan his/her time appropriately (Hattori, 2010). The student will be able to watch the story of George Washington in video 4, “The “American revolution – Biography – George Washington” (Morton, 2003). This will enhance their understanding of the unit.
Unit Level Learning Outcome
Unit 1: Political development during the American Revolution
By the end of this unit, the students will be capable of pinpointing the changes in the opinions, principles, and sentiments of the colonial states during the American Revolution. The students will understand the colonial reasons to oppose British taxation and the infringing acts (Gondosch, 2010). The students will also acquire a sense of nationalism as admired by the sons of liberty. They will be capable of comparing the politics that led to the revolution with the current governance issues. Moreover, they will gain skills to debate effectively on the current conflicts or the emerging human crisis (Gondosch, 2010).
Unit 2: American Revolution as Military, Cultural, Social Events
By the end of the unit, the students will understand the battle of Lexington. They will be able to reason out the causes of the battle and its consequences. The student will also be able to describe the tactics used by the British government in order to stop the course of the war. The unit will also assist the student in understanding the impact of poor foreign relationship. The students will discuss on the ethical issues around alignment of nations against one common enemy. The unit will offer to the students a broad perception on the current US foreign policy. The learners will be enlightened on the underlying religious and social grievances that led to the war.
The difficulties in the formation of the Union due to different denominations will be discussed and understood. The learners will be able to identify different religions or denominations that existed in the US colonies prior to the revolution. They will also understand factors that affected the ease in the formation of the union. Moreover, the student will acquire the ability to accept diversity. This ability will assist individual student in uniting with others for the achievement of a common goal.
Unit 3: The Articles of Confederation
By the end of this unit, the students will be able to track the origin of the Articles of Confederation. The students will understand the tortuous process involved in the writing of Articles and appreciate the views of a divergent opinion while working in a group. The learner will acquire the capability of accepting other people’s opinion even if they differ too much with his/her opinion. The unit will also make students cherish the national treasures like the Articles of Confederation (Bernstein, 2009).
The student will as well understand the need for careful drafting of policies. Individual students will be able to contribute effectively in any process that involves policymaking. They will also understand the significance of renegotiation in case of a failure in policies or structures of governance. They will also appreciate the relevance of the articles in the shaping of the current governance and the US Constitution (Butler, 2001).
Unit 4: The Founding Fathers
By the end of the unit, the students will understand the risky efforts the US founding fathers underwent to liberate the country from the colonial masters. This unit will impart a sense of nationalism and patriotism to the student. The unit will instill boldness in the students in opposing bad governance or oppression (Holmes, 2006).
Resource Bank for the Course
Books
Applewood Books. (2006). The Articles of Confederation. Carlisle: Applewood Books. (Applwood Books 2006).
Bernstein, R. (2009). The Founding Fathers Reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press. (Bernstein, 2009).
Butler, J. (2001). Becoming America: The Revolution Before 1776. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Butler, 2001).
Gondosch, L. (2010). How Did Tea and Taxes Spark a Revolution?: And Other Questions about the Boston Tea Party. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications. (Gondosch, 2010).
Holmes, D. (2006). The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. New York: Oxford University. (Holmes, 2006).
Multimedia Resources
Video 1, “The rising of sons of liberty” (Morton, 2003).
Video 2, “The American War of independence” (Morton, 2003).
Video 3, “Articles of Confederation before the constitution” (Applewood Books, 2006).
Video 4, “The “American revolution – Biography – George Washington” (Morton, 2003)
Other Learning Resource
Image 1 “The Two coming American Revolution” (Bernstein, 2009).
Copies of Articles of Confederation
The following tables are the unit outlines in this course.
References
Applewood Books. (2006). The Articles of Confederation. Carlisle: Applewood Books.
Bernstein, R. (2009). The Founding Fathers Reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press.
Butler, J. (2001). Becoming America: The Revolution Before 1776. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Gondosch, L. (2010). How Did Tea and Taxes Spark a Revolution?: And Other Questions about the Boston Tea Party. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.
Hattori, A. (2010). Teaching history through service learning at the University of Guam. The Journal of Pacific History, 46(2), 221-227.
Holmes, D. (2006). The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. New York: Oxford University Press.
Morton, J. (2003). The American Revolution. Westport: Greenwood.