When you are reading the texts, in a presentation group, writing posts and/or presenting about the readings in discussion, here are some questions you can address:
General
Why did these events take place? Could there have been a different outcome?
Did you read about any events that were “unintended consequences” of earlier actions/events?
Do you think the events/people you read about were or were not representative of other events/people of this time period? Why or why not?
How does the reading complicate/complement what you’ve learned from Dr. Weber’s lecture, other history classes, mass media or anywhere else?
Does leaving out any of the events/people in the readings change interpretations of history?
Why do you think Dr. Weber chose this reading assignment out of the many other topics she could have chosen?
Did any of the reading support or contradict stereotypes?
Specific
Why did the American Revolution happen? Did it have to?
How did the United States come to have the founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution)?
What were the implications of the Revolution on American society?
What was the role of lower classes, religion, women, African Americans, Native peoples, immigrants, and other groups during this time?
How did the market and transportation revolutions change the nation?
What was the role of slavery?
Why did the country have a Civil War?
