Essentials U.S. History A

About This Course

This is a survey course of United States history focusing on the period from the Industrial Revolution through the present. The United States began as an experiment in freedom and democracy. Since its establishment, the country and its people have endured social, political and economic revolutions. In this course, students will investigate the people, events and ideas that have shaped the United States. Students are asked to analyze and evaluate decisions made by political, business, and military leaders. Emphasis is placed on connections between events of the past and present. Prerequisites:  None

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Describe a location using appropriate geographic terms
• Explain the causes and discuss major events of the second Industrial Revolution in the U.S.
• Analyze the economic challenges to American farmers and farmers' responses to these challenges in the mid to late 1800s.
• Identify the different immigrant groups that arrived in the United States during the Industrial Revolution and explain the reasons why they immigrated to the United States.
• Explain the concept of a political machine and identify significant players.
• Explain the need for labor unions and assess their success or failure.
• Explain how industrialization led to imperialism.
• Explain the causes and effects of the Spanish American War.
• Analyze the economic, military, and security motivations of the United States to complete the Panama Canal as well as major obstacles involved in its construction.
• Identify and explain the causes of World War I, analyze the effect World War I had on U.S. social, economic, foreign policy, and on the attitudes of the American citizens.
• Identify and state the impact of the new technological developments of weaponry during World War I.
• Explain the purpose, benefits, and risks of the League of Nations.
• Explain the causes and consequences of the Red Scare.
• Identify and evaluate the social, political, and economic incentives for the development of peace and relief efforts after World War.
• Recognize the cause-and-effect relationships of economic trends as they relate to society in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.
• Identify and/or evaluate the decisions made by national and state governments related to immigration and other civil rights issues.
• Identify and/or evaluate the impact of business practices, consumer patterns, and government policies of the 1920s and 1930s as they relate to the Great Depression.
• identify the impact of business practices, consumer patterns, and government policies of the 1930s as they relate to the New Deal.

Course Outline:

Module 2: Industrial Revolution

Module 3: Enter the World Stage

Module 4: Between the Wars

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/

Lightweight devices such as Apple iPads, Google Chromebooks, and tablets have limited support for Java or Flash which still appear in a small percentage of our catalog. While FLVS does not offer technical support for these devices, FLVS is working to remove Flash from their remaining course content. Students will need extra work-around steps or alternate browsers to engage with some portions of those courses. FLVS recommends students have a Windows or Mac based computer available to complete coursework in the event that your selected mobile device does not meet the needs of the course. Fully supported Operating Systems for FLVS courses include Windows (10 or higher) and MacOS (11 or higher). Supported Browsers include the most recent versions of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Apple Safari on devices that support Java and HTML5. Browsers need to be up to date, and some FLVS courses may require installation or enabling of the following Plug-ins: JavaScript enabled, Cookies enabled, Java installed. https://www.flvs.net/student-parent-resources/more/system-requirements

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: This course permits students to test out of content and therefore are not NCAA eligible. If you are enrolling a student athlete for Credit Recovery purposes, we recommend our full-length Plus courses.