U.S. History B Self-Paced

Through this course, students will make connections across time between the challenges and issues in America today to a wide variety of historical events. This course offers a comprehensive overview of the history of the United States from the Progressive Era to very recent events.

Students will begin the course by examining the ongoing struggle for many groups to gain civil rights and increased opportunity from the late 19th century through the civil rights movement of the 1960s and up through the election of the first black president and ongoing efforts to expand rights and opportunity in America today. Students will study America’s changing role in the world over time, including the U.S. role in WWII, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror.

Students will use a variety of sources, including an online textbook and primary source documents, to gain a rich understanding of major events, turning points, and important figures in American history. Students will apply their growing knowledge and interpretation of American history through written responses demonstrating their synthesis of multiple perspectives. Students will choose and research selected topics in order to gain a deeper understanding of how the ideals in the founding documents have been realized throughout our history.

About the Self-Paced Course Model

Self-Paced courses are designed for students who need flexibility in their academic schedule. Teachers answer questions and interact with students in Private Topics, provide feedback on work, and host weekly office hours. Students work independently on course activities; the course does not include class discussion assignments or other collaborative work.

This course has start dates on each Wednesday throughout the year. Students must maintain enrollment for a minimum of 4 weeks and have up to 16 weeks to complete all assignments in the course. It is expected that students will work for approximately 90 hours to complete this course, though the amount of time may vary depending on a student’s work habits and comfort with the material.

Acknowledgements

  • I acknowledge that this is a self-paced course.
  • This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

  • To what extent does the United States live up to the ideals established in the founding documents?
  • How has the struggle for rights and opportunity been a defining feature of American history?
  • How do unresolved conflicts throughout American history continue to impact the country today?

Course Objectives:

  • Identify and explain historical developments and processes throughout United States history.
  • Analyze and discuss primary source documents.
  • Analyze the context of historical events, developments, or processes.
  • Develop an argument based on historical evidence