Welcome!

We are delighted that you have chosen to learn about United States History with instructor Nate Weston and Seattle Central Community College.

This course examines the social, political, and economic development of the United States since the end of the Civil War. It traces the rise of an industrial and urban social order, the emergence of the U.S. as a world power, social and political reform movements, and recent transformations. Readings and written assignments focus not only on the major political events and economic developments of the period, but also the experiences of diverse groups, including women, African-Americans, immigrants, workers, and others.

image from Digital History

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to recount the basic events, questions, and issues that make up U.S. History since around 1865. Some of these include:

Explaining how race relations have developed since emancipation
Describing the social and political consequences of the emergence of an urban-industrial social order
Explicating how and why the United States become a world power
Illustrating the role that government plays in American society and how that has changed over the past 130 years

Students Start Here

This is a self-paced course built out of several Modules. Each Module will have several different components:

Audio Introduction - start each Module with some introductory remarks to put the upcoming materials into perspective.
Text Reading - your text reading is in the free online textbook Digital History. For each Module, certain sections will be assigned. Watch this short video to learn more about navigating the text readings.
Videos - you will have one or two short videos to give you some additional context for this period in history.
Writing Reflection - reflect on what you learned through reflective writing. You can use Canvas' ePortfolio, a blog site, or a different medium for wherever you would like to post the response. We invite you to share the link to your reflection with others in the course on the discussion board.
Quiz - take an objective quiz to see how well you learned the concepts of the Module.

Please introduce yourself in the discussion area linked here: Introduce Yourself

Then begin the course by clicking on the Modules tab on the left side of the screen.

This course is available as a Correspondence Course from Seattle Central Community College. If you choose to enroll in the course, you can earn 5 credits and get regular feedback from the instructor while still having the freedom to learn at your own pace for up to 6 months. Click here for additional information about enrolling. Please note that a 5 credit course takes about 10-15 hours per week to complete successfully.