Course Themes



7 Course Themes

Theme 1: Identity

• Definition of “American:” changing or static

• Interaction of “subidentities” (e.g., race, gender, region with larger American identity)

• Varying degrees of having and of struggling for rights of American citizenship

This theme encompasses a study of the development of American national identity and the formation of other group or individual identities in American history. Simply put, this theme addresses questions— "who is an American," "who can be an American," and "What does it mean to be an American?" -–that have generated varying answers over time from different respondents.  These responses have influenced individual actions, group actions, public discourse, and public policy, and they have generated argument.  A related aspect of this theme focuses on how identities, cultures, and values have been preserved or changed in different contexts of American history, with special attention to the formation of gender, class, racial, and ethnic identities. This theme explores how these sub-identities have interacted with each other and with the larger American national identity.

Theme 2: Work, Exchange, and Technology

• Agriculture, manufacturing, financial institution changes over time

• Free and unfree labor, rural versus urban, capitalist versus wage-earner

• Technological changes, limitations, innovations

• Government intervention in economy

• Implications of work life for personal life

• Implication of work for international connections (e.g., immigration, world markets, war, transfer of ideas)

This theme surveys the development of American economies based on agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing over time and in various places. It examines ways that different economic and labor systems, technological innovations, and government policies have shaped American society. In particular, it focuses on the lives of working people and relationships between social classes, racial and ethnic groups, and men and women. It includes land and labor, national and international economic developments, and the role of government support and regulation.

Theme 3: Peopling

• Consequences of movement into, out of, and within U.S. borders

• Implications of involuntary migration (e.g., African and Native Americans)

• Consequences of annexation (e.g., Mexicans and Puerto Ricans)

• Intermingling and clashing of cultures

• Merging and assimilating cultures

• Changing demographic patterns (e.g., epidemics, aging, birth/death rates)

This theme examines how migration across borders and long distances, including the slave trade, and the internal migration of both newcomers and indigenous inhabitants transformed North America. It examines why and how the various people who moved to, from, and within the United States adapted to their new social and physical environments. It examines how people responded when “borders crossed them.” It looks at the ideas, beliefs, traditions, technologies, religion, and gender roles that migrants/immigrants and annexed peoples brought with them, and the impact these factors had on both these peoples and American society.

Theme 4: Politics and Power

• Negotiation of governmental power and authority

• Institutions and groups that wield power

• Popular participation in political life

• Popular culture and shared civic values

• Balance between public good and individual freedom

This theme looks at negotiated definitions of power, sovereignty, and authority. It examines ongoing debates over the role of the state in society and its potential as an active agent for change; mechanisms for creating, implementing, or limiting participation in the political process and the resulting social effects; and the changing relationships between such entities as branches of the federal government and between national, state, and local governments. It traces efforts to define or gain access to individual rights and citizenship, and surveys the tensions between liberty and authority and how they have evolved.

Theme 5: America in the World

• Colonial-era competition for North America

• United States born out of international conflict

• U.S. pursuit of interests and influence abroad

• Global influences on the U.S. and the U.S. impact on the globe

This theme examines the global context in which the United States originated and developed. It focuses on how world actors (e.g., people, states, organizations, and companies) have competed for the territory and resources of the North American continent, influencing the development of both American and world societies and economies. Following the creation of the United States, American ideals, economy, society, and culture influenced (and were influenced by) the world around them. This two-way influence has shaped how the United States has defined and pursued its international interests, the ways Americans have viewed others, and how the U.S. image abroad has changed.

Theme 6: Environment and Geography (Physical and Human)

• Natural resources

• Environmental constraints and opportunities

• Land and resource definitions and usage (e.g., “public” versus “private” land, land grants, water rights)

This theme examines the role of environment, geography, and climate in both constraining and shaping American actions at home and abroad. It covers the interaction between the environment and Americans in their efforts to survive and thrive. It focuses on human efforts to interpret, preserve, manage, or exploit natural and man-made environments, as well as the historical contexts within which human relations with the environment have taken place.

Theme 7: Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture

• Role of social reform in democratic ideals

• Ideas and ideals reflected in and shaping creative expression

• Political and social ideas and ideals as community adhesive

This theme examines the role that ideas, beliefs, social mores, and creative expression have played in shaping America. It looks at the domestic and international sources and development of Americans’ aesthetic, moral, religious, scientific, and philosophical principles, and considers how these principles have affected individual and group actions. It examines the development of American popular culture and how this culture reflects the themes of this course. The theme also surveys the interactions between beliefs and communities, economic values, and political movements, including attempts to change or reform American society in line with specific ideals.

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