HIUS 510 American Colonial History

The purpose of this course is to immerse the student in some of the major content and historiographic topics germane to American colonial history. This course fits into the Liberty University MA in History program’s objectives by assessing graduate levels of attainment in reading comprehension, historical evaluation (research and critical thinking), and communication (formal writing and interaction with peers) all from a Biblical worldview perspective. It is an important course because the colonial period is the “seed-bed” of American history.

Textbook readings, articles, and presentations

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The student will complete 3 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 300 words. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 100 words. For each thread, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 2 scholarly citations in current Turabian format. Each reply must incorporate at least 1 scholarly citation in current Turabian format.

Book Review Assignments (2)

The student will write 2 book reviews in this course after making book selections from the provided lists. For Book Review: First Assignment, choose from the list designated Book Review: First Assignment. For Book Review: Second Assignment, choose from the list designated Book Review: Second Assignment. Requests for books not on these lists will not be accepted. Important note: the student should choose books he/she has not already read and/or written a review on. Each book review must be a critique or analysis of the book’s main argument or theme and should be 2–3 pages. Parenthetical citations should be used for the book under review.   

Research Proposal Assignment

The student will write a 1–2-page Research Proposal in current Turabian format that focuses on what the student desires to research and why. The statement may include a preliminary thesis if enough research has been done at that point. The proposal must include a bibliographic listing of works examined up to that point (at least 3 primary sources and 3 secondary sources).

Research Paper Assignment

The student will write a 15-page research-based paper in current Turabian format that focuses on an approved topic. Approval is contingent upon a successful Research Proposal. The paper must include at least 6 primary sources and 6 secondary sources. The paper must have a title page, footnotes, a bibliography (with divisions of primary and secondary sources), 1-inch margins, and Times New Roman 12-point font.

Quizzes (4)

Each of these four quizzes will cover the Learn material of the module in which it is assigned as well as the previous module. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 25 multiple-choice and/or true/false questions as well as 1 essay question, and have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit. The essay for each quiz must be at least 250 words. 

Important note: the essay on Quiz: 4 will be comprehensive in nature, asking the student to write a synthesis essay on what he/she thinks is the dominant theme in the evolution of Colonial American history.