Course Readings – HS 1301 United States History to 1877

Colonial & Revolutionary AmericaEarly Republic AmericaAntebellum & Civil War America




The Creator’s Game: Native American Culture and Lacrosse

Zeresh Haman
10/01/2017

Imagine running across a field. You’re tired and out of breath. You’ve been in what seems like an endless game. From sun up to sundown you’re running and fighting to make a goal. To some, it may seem like a game, but not to you.




La Malinche: Traitor or Survivor?

Mariana Sandoval
09/02/2016

Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “People” Best Article in the Category of “World History” Largely due to the importation of disease and use of superior weapons, the Spaniards were able to conquer the Aztec capital




What Really Happened To The Infamous Roanoke Colony?

Ezequiel De La Fuente
11/22/2017

As you are coming to the end of your long journey, you’re overwhelmed with the idea that you’ll be home soon, accompanied by warm, familiar faces. However, when you return home, you’re not welcomed by friends and family, but by silence and only the howl




Anne Hutchinson: “The First Feminist in the New World”

Mia Diaz
09/07/2016

For centuries women have fought against numerous injustices forced upon them because of their gender. Some of these injustices include the right to be seen as an equal to men, the right to vote, and the right for equal pay, along with many more. Although women




Witches: The Hocus Pocus in Salem

Oscar Sepulveda
09/23/2016

Why would adults in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690s take the accusations of nine year old girls seriously? During the seventeenth century, New England had grown diverse. The people living in the communities were of different backgrounds. But in the 1690’s there was an apparent outbreak of witchcraft.




John Peter Zenger: One Man’s Struggle for Free Press, Part I

Mia Diaz
09/29/2016

In the media today, every public figure is being scrutinized through a magnifying glass. People are openly, and at times brutally, expressing their opinions about celebrities, athletes, and especially politicians. Now imagine if every reporter, journalist, or even just an ordinary citizen was arrested for




John Peter Zenger: One Man’s Struggle for Free Press, Part II

Mia Diaz
09/29/2016

When the news of the content of Zenger’s newspaper spread, Cosby was informed of the allegations being printed against him, and became outraged by these attacks. After two failed attempts to have Zenger indicted for seditious libel, Cosby ordered the town sheriff to deliver a




A Historical Economic Policy “Mercantilism”

Mehmet Samuk
10/19/2016

Mercantilism is one of the most influential economic doctrines in the history of economics; however, the school that dominated European thought for two centuries is now considered a historical artifact. According to scholar Lars Magnusson, no self-respecting economist would associate himself or herself with mercantilism in today’s




Common Sense: Thomas Paine

Oscar Sepulveda
11/01/2016

There are moments in history that stand out and are remembered more than others. Moments like these are crucial because they tend to change the lives of many populations throughout our world. How could a pamphlet with a simple message make such a drastic change in




Abigail Adams & the Female Influence During the Revolutionary War

Mia Diaz
10/26/2016

Too often in society women are belittled because of their gender, despite their numerous abilities and achievements. Women all over the world fall victims, and struggle to become survivors, of inequality against their male counterparts. Although some improvements have been made over time, there is


History 101: The Founding Fathers Vs. Slavery

Roberto Tijerina
11/11/2016

Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for Best Multimedia Presentation This video with Robert Tijerina is the first in our series of videos on American History. In this first video, Robert explores the relationship between the Founding Fathers and their views on slavery.




James Madison: Champion of Democracy?

Adziko Tsatenawa
04/13/2017

There are a number of inconsistencies in the writings of James Madison. Some of those inconsistencies regard states’ rights, the importance of having a bill of rights in the U.S. constitution, and the appropriate size of government.1 One of the inconsistencies that have troubled scholars of




Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Mehmet Samuk
11/04/2016

Every year there are dozens of scholarly books and articles that are published describing the founding period of the United States. The debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists over the ratification of the Constitution is one of the topics often discussed. Both the Federalists and the




The American Constitution and the Death of the “Great Experiment”

Greyson Addicott
10/29/2018

Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for Best Article in the Category of “United States History” What, exactly, makes the United States of America so unique? Is it our food, our inventions, our skyscrapers, or our fancy cars? Could the answer to




Jefferson, Adams, and the “Revolution” of 1800

Roberto Tijerina
08/30/2016

After watching the current events of this 2016 election, the American people can agree as a whole that this Presidential race has been significantly different than ones we have seen before. The two candidates take and give personal blows to each other, and the electorate




Was There Any Theism in Thomas Jefferson’s Deism?

Tyler Pauly
11/05/2021

As one of America’s most prominent founding fathers, the religious life of Thomas Jefferson has been subject to much scrutiny. Many scholars insist that Jefferson was a deist, and that this deism guided him to make his decisions and define his role in history. While




A Duel That Left No Victor: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

Nathan Alba
05/05/2020

United States history is filled with dramatic events and time periods correlating to the vast, wild, and sometimes reckless founding and expansion of Europeans fleeing tyranny in search of freedom. When one thinks about duels now, one may recall the Wild West, which was an




The Louisiana Purchase: The Greatest Land Grab In History

Joshua Collins
04/18/2021

During the rather warm first weeks of April in Paris in 1803, rumors were abound throughout Napoleon’s court in the Tuileries Palace. The rumors were of defeat in Saint-Domingue, increased aggression and hostilities with England that could lead to war, and a heightened concern of




Tenskwatawa: Tecumseh’s forgotten Brother

Matthew Gallardo
11/06/2021

A lone Native-American man, born and raised in Shawnee tribes, sat alone in his home. He had been drinking the entire day, overwhelmed with humiliation. His brother, Tecumseh, was an established warrior and skilled leader, while he was viewed by his people as a useless




From Child to Commodore: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Became The Commodore

Aaron Sandoval
05/04/2020

Cornelius Vanderbilt led a life of conflict and economic success, and during that life, he earned the nickname “The Commodore.” This nickname had an incredible impact on all who heard it. The child that grew up to become the Commodore was taught to be ruthless and smart




A Lesson in Foreshadowing: The American Nullification Crisis

Greyson Addicott
10/10/2018

The year was 1828, and South Carolina was dying in the sweltering heat of August. The paved roads that had once provided excellent transportation to traders and tourists alike were altogether abandoned, helplessly desolate besides the occasional passerby. Her dockyards, once teeming with shipbuilders and




From Slave to Author: The Story of Harriet Jacobs

Ariette Aragon
10/28/2021

Could you live for seven years in a space that is only nine feet long, seven feet wide, and three feet high, without fresh air or natural light? I think all of us would agree that it would be virtually humanly impossible for a person




Oneida: Cooking Up the Perfect Community

Eliana Villarreal
11/04/2021

In a perfect world, or better yet, in a heaven on earth, everyone would be married to one another, there would be no jealousy among one another, and everyone within this heaven would live free of sin. When utopian societies in the nineteenth century were




Dorothea Dix and her efforts to reform Prison and Insane Asylums

Phylisha Liscano
12/08/2021

Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American reformer who advocated for the improvement of hospitals, prisons, and asylums.1 In 1841, after Dorothea Lynde Dix conducted a small Sunday class at the East Cambridge Jail in Massachusetts, she was given a tour. It was on this tour




The Mysterious Death of David Crockett

Kenneth Gilley
12/13/2019

Cannons roar, rifles crack, and bayoneted soldiers scream. It was March 6, 1836, and the Alamo was about to fall under the viscous assault of Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. He had declared that he would take no quarter: every soldier in the




1854: The Elite Life of a Quarter in our Nations Capitol

Matthew Tobar
12/07/2021

While I recognize the professionalism and academic success of this StMU Research Scholars project and the types of articles published in the project, I decided on a unique approach to my scholarship. The following journal entries are the voice of a quarter from the year


“Tragic Prelude”: Mural of John Brown


Bleeding Kansas: The Story of John Brown

Samuel Vega
11/07/2021

Welcome to Kansas! Free State or Slave State? As a settler in the Kansas Territory, you may choose how to vote. It sounds straightforward, based on what was laid out in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854; but it was far from easy. Settlers were not




Lincoln vs. Douglas: The Debates on Slavery

Luke Lopez
10/28/2018

The year was 1858, and the day was August 21 in the city of Ottawa, Illinois. It was dusty and hot, and there were about 12,000 people waiting in the audience around a speaking stand for a train to come in from the nearby city of


Innocent Civil War Dolls and Smuggling Drugs

Esperanza Mauricio
10/14/2016

Despite it being early morning, a line had already formed. They had gotten off the boat wobbly, still trying to get their land legs back since they had traveled all the way from England. Moving slowly, a mother holding the hand of her young daughter




The Civil War and the Birth of the Emancipation Proclamation

Carlos Aparicio
12/08/2017

Imagine being kidnapped or sold into captivity, forced into submission through violent beatings, torture, and intimidation, sold on the auction block to the highest bidder, and being forced to work for free under the most cruel conditions. And imagine that it is all perfectly legal.




Adrian Vidal: A Tejano Caught Between Two Wars

Paul Garza
10/22/2019

Early 1863 in the Confederate state of Texas, Adrian Vidal was committing mutiny with his Tejano group of independent partisans. Torn between two wars, the American Civil War and the Mexican fight for independence, Adrian Vidal denounced the Confederacy for its support for the French