United States History

In an increasingly digital world in which pedagogical trends are de-emphasizing rote learning and professors are increasingly turning toward active-learning exercises, scholars are fleeing traditional textbooks. Yet for those that still yearn for the safe tether of a synthetic text, as either narrative backbone or occasional reference material, The American Yawp offers a free and online, collaboratively built, open American history textbook designed for college-level history courses. Unchecked by profit motives or business models, and free from for-profit educational organizations, The American Yawp is by scholars, for scholars. All contributors—experienced college-level instructors—volunteer their expertise to help democratize the American past for twenty-first century classrooms

This text from Dr. Franklin Williamson and Dr. Tom Aiello from Gordon State University contains all modular text content used in the LMS implementation of their American History I (HIST 2111) courses. American History 1 covers topics ranging from the colonial period to the Civil War.

The text was created under an Affordable Learning Georgia G2C Pilot Grant, taking place from Spring 2018 until Fall 2019. Topics include:

The Colonial South / The Colonial North
18th Century Colonial Life
American Revolution
Jeffersonian Era
Slavery and Southern Life
Western Expansion
Sectional Conflict
American Civil War

In this LibGuide, you will find instructional resources designed to facilitate the use of primary sources and open educational resources in the teaching of HIST 2154: Minorities in American History. This compilation of existing and new material was funded by an Affordable Learning Georgia grant during AY 2020-2021. The scholars participating in the ALG grant aimed to revive an important course that had not been offered at GHC in more than 5 years, while also bringing that course in line with the American Historical Association's "Tuning Project" and making the course accessible to all students.

HIST 2154, the two courses that make up the American History sequence in the University System of Georgia. Course redesign (spring, summer 2021) was guided by four primary influences:

Building or finding material available under creative commons license, to limit the financial burden felt by students
The backward design process in Dee Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses
The AHA Tuning Project, which emphasizes historical thinking skills rather than content memorization in the teaching of history courses
Inserting a diverse group of voices into the American history narrative

The course was piloted during the fall semester of 2021. The redesigned course text and resources were taught across 4 physical campuses (plus 3 online sections) and used by more than 350 students. Students and instructors were asked to provide feedback on their experience with the resources, providing quantitative and qualitative data that was used to improve the quality of the resources offered.

We are opening these resources to other HIST 2154 instructors, in hopes that more students can benefit from these open educational resources.

HIST 2154 is a course designed to explore the role of minority/subordinate groups in American history, to emphasize the diversity of American experiences in the past, and to bring students to a better awareness of their own place in American culture. Minority groups who make up the bulk of the course study are Native/Indigenous Americans, African Americans, Latinx Americans, Asian Americans, and women. This list is obviously not exhaustive, and other groups can easily be added following the same model.

This set of videos supplementing the Georgia Highlands College implementation of The American Yawp was created under a Round Twelve Mini-Grant for Ancillary Materials Creation and Revisions. The videos have been added to GHC's American History I Youtube Playlist, and a few are also included in Western Civilization II.

Topics include:

The Columbian Exchange;
The Middle Ground;
Atlantic Slavery;
Seven Years War;
Disease in the Age of Revolution;
Early American Republic: Political Parties;
Hamilton-Burr Duel;
Industrial Revolution in Global Context;
Mexican War;
Origins of the Civil War;
Civil War Medicine.