The abolition movement gave new spirit, energy, and resolve to those who believed women should be equal to men. Ar'n't I a Woman? analyzes the beginning of an independent women's rights movement and the reforms advocated by these activists. When watching the video, consider how and why did the women's rights movement evolve from other reform movements? Who were the prominent women's rights advocates?

This video discusses how and why women became important in reform movements during the early and mid-nineteenth century. When watching the video, consider how is the religious enthusiasm present in the early and mid-nineteenth century connected to social reform movements of the era? Why do women emerge as reformers? How do Catherine Beecher and Dorothea Dix represent this? What explains the emergence of the temperance movement?

Why does the Civil War matter? Kim discusses the importance of the Civil War and its effects on American society.

Spanish conquistadors subdued many of the native populations, setting the stage for a Spanish empire in the New World. What were the effects of mixing Spanish, Indian, and African peoples and cultures in the New World? Part of the Spanish empire reached into the area we now know as New Mexico.

Learn about the naval warfare between Britain and Germany that led to the sinking of the Lusitania. Created by Sal Khan.

The body of the essay is structured into units of ideas called paragraphs. Each paragraph is constructed around a topic sentence, which serves to focus and organize the ideas within the paragraph. While there is no set number of sentences within a paragraph, the reader expects the general topic sentence to be explained, developed, discussed, and analyzed with reasonable, logical supporting details and examples.

Further south in Carolina, close ties with British colonies in the Caribbean affected the development of Charleston, another distinctive colony. Characterized by the production of staple crops, a servant labor system, and an emerging racial hierarchy, the southern colonies established by the British in the seventeenth century would ultimately affect all Americans for generations to come.

How did events in the years after 1980 affect national identity in the United States? In this video, Kim discusses changes in US foreign policy, economics, and politics, attempting to place the developments of this era into a broader historical context.

During 1861–1862, the realities of the Civil War began to hit home. It was clear this war was not going to be resolved quickly on the battlefields, and its effects would change the course of the nation and its people. Key developments on home fronts during the Civil War affected the economy, society, and politics of both the North and the South. What were these developments and how did they affect the eventual outcome of the war?

The Changing Chesapeake examines how the labor system of the Chesapeake Region changed from one based on white indentured servitude to one based on black slavery. The story of the Anthony Johnson family illustrates some of the complex issues that followed the transition. Increasingly, the gap between rich and poor became wider, and conflict with Native Americans intensified as settlers pushed out to frontier farming.

The people living in Texas before European contact had to survive in different conditions, from beaches to mountains, forests to deserts. A wide diversity of life existed. From the complex society of the Caddoes of East Texas, to the trading culture of the Antelope Creek society in the Panhandle, to the warlike, barely surviving society of the coastal Karakawas, Native Americans adapted to their surroundings.

The Spanish came to Texas first by accident, then by exploring to find gold or silver. Later, they came to form a buffer between French Louisiana and their rich mines in Mexico and New Mexico. The Spanish had few settlements based on the mission/presido system. These were decimated in hthe war for Mexican independence. Nevertheless, the Spanish had a lasting influence on Texas, with many place names, land laws, and women's rights.

People living in Texas were affected by the Mexican War for independence and the early struggles for a stable government in Mexico. Mexicans invited people from the Unites States to colonize using empresario grants. The purpose for the Mexican government was to have the Anglos (not Mexicans) deal with hostile Indians. Austin Moses, and when he died his son Stephen, got the first and most succesful of these grants and Anglo colonization began. People from the southern US came to Texas to raise cotton and many brought their slaves to do all the work. Over time, former US citizens grew frustrated with the Mexican government and began to want to make Texas part of the US.

The Texas Revolution was based on the desires of colonists from the US to retain the forms of government they were used to and the need to use slaves to make cotton-raising profitable. The revolution was over quickly with only a few battles. Texans expected to be annexed immediately into the US and when that did not happen, the scramble to set up the Republic of Texas began. The Republic lasted nine years and was never very successful. In 1845, Texas was finally annexed into the US as a state.

Once Texas became a state, immigration from other states brought a huge increase in population and economic stability. Most immgrants came from the US South to grow cotton and gain wealth from the labor of slaves. The whole economy was based on slave labor so when tensions grew about possible abolition, Texans grew even more entrenched about protecting their way of life.

The Civil War fundamentally transformed the United States. But at the time of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter in 1861, it was far from clear what would happen in the ensuing conflict. Fort Sumter, located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was the most prominent federal installation still in the hands of the federal government in the seceding states in March 1861. 

As the Civil War began, spirits were high on both sides, and many were optimistic that it would be a short war. Meanwhile, political and military leaders made choices that brought thousands of people into harm's way. Individuals had to choose if they were going to fight for a cause that might take the last full measure of devotion. This video analyzes the reasons people signed up to fight and the advantages each side held. When watching the videos, consider how did both the North and the South respond to the fall of Fort Sumter? 

Who was Christopher Columbus? In this video, Kim explores Columbus's background, his search for royal patronage, and his first voyage in 1492.

A City on a Hill? provides a unit summary analysis of the development of American identity in the colonial period and the degree of freedom being exercised during that era. Even though southern and northern colonies had developed along different paths, America itself was becoming more distinctive. Colonists still recognized themselves as British subjects, but they were also becoming "American" in many other ways.

This course surveys the social science literature on civil war. Students will study the origins of civil war, discuss variables that affect the duration of civil war, and examine the termination of conflict. This course is highly interdisciplinary and covers a wide variety of cases.