Revised 9/23

HIS 127 - Women in American History (3 CR.)

Course Description

Studies the role of women and attitudes toward women in American society from colonial times to the present. Lecture 3 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

To provide a course of special interest to students of all ages.

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

No prerequisites. It is preferable but not mandatory that the student has taken a general course in American history before enrolling in History 127. The ability to read and write the English language effectively at the college level is expected.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

 Critical Thinking: the ability to use information, ideas, and arguments from relevant perspectives to make sense of complex issues and solve problems.

  • Discuss the changing roles of women in American society and their contributions to American history over time.
  • Describe the diversity of women’s experiences in American society.

Written Communication – the ability to develop, convey, and exchange ideas in writing, as appropriate to a given context and audience.

  • Examine and analyze primary documents in order to comprehend philosophical trends that affected women.
  • Examine and analyze visual images and prints to better understand gender roles.

Colonial America:

  • Identify the different cultural roles and expectations of Native American, European, and African women.
  • Distinguish the differences between unfree labor in Colonial America.
  • Explain the ethnic and economic diversity of colonial society.
  • Examine women’s labor and explore the interrelationships between constructions of gender, race, class, and sexuality.
  • Investigate how the American Revolution impacted women’s lives across race, ethnicity, and class.

Early Republic and Antebellum Period

  • Examine philosophical trends of the early Republic that affected women’s roles in the Early Republic.
  • Explain the impact of early industrialization on the economic rights of women.
  • Recognize how slavery and race the influenced the status of African American women in American society. 

Civil War and Reconstruction:

  • Examine the diversity of women's experiences during the Civil War and how the war affected women’s daily lives.
  • Define how Reconstruction influenced concepts of gender, race, class and sexuality American Society.
  • Explain the fight by African American women to fight racism and violence in the South. 

Expanding Nation

  • Appraise the system used by the U.S. Government to assimilate Native Americans and interpret how it affected the lives of nineteenth-century Native American Women.
  • Explain the relationship between westward migration and settlement and the evolution of women’s roles in Western society.

Progressive Era

  • Explain women's involvement in politics during the Progressive Era across race and class.
  • Compare and contrast the women's labor in the 19th century women in American Society.

 World War I, 1920s, Depression, and World War II

  • Analyze and define how women were shaped by the greater political and economic forces of their times (1920-1945).
  • Compare and contrast how American society and culture affected women's choices form 1920-1945.
  • Analyze and define how women were shaped by their experiences during World War II.

Post-War America

  • Explain the roles, diversity, and experiences of women in the Civil Rights movement.
  • Describe the evolution of the feminist movement.
  • Describe and illustrate how women and society at large reacted to the changes of from the 1960s-1980s.
  • Examine inequalities in the Labor force and the fight to combat discrimination.

Women in a Global Age, 1980-Present

  • Evaluate the development of women's political identity in the late 20th and early 21st century. 
  • Examine the fight for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights.
  • Examine women’s fight for reproductive rights.

 

Major Topics to Be Included

  • Native American Societies, European Culture,  and West African Culture before European expansion and invasions.
  • Clash of cultures between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans
  • Atlantic slave trade and Colonial Slavery
  • Diversity of women’s roles in Colonial society.
  • Women’s involvement in colonial protests
  • Impact of the Revolutionary War on women’s lives based on race, ethnicity, and class
  • Changing gender roles in early republic
  • Changes to slavery in the new republic.
  • Industrialization and changing concepts of gender roles
  • Reform movements
  • Early women’s movement
  • Southern women across race, ethnicity, and class.
  • Impact of the Civil War on women’s lives based on race, ethnicity, and class
  • Impact of Reconstruction on women’s lives based on race, ethnicity, and class
  • Women’s roles within the Progressive Movement across race, ethnicity, and class.
  • Women’s participation in the Long Civil Rights Movement
  • Impact of World War I on women’s lives based on race, ethnicity, and class
  • Women’s changing roles and freedoms during the 1920s
  • How the Great Depression affected gender roles across race, ethnicity, and class.
  • How the New Deal treated racial and gender issues in American society
  • Impact of World War II on women’s lives based on race, ethnicity, and class
  • How the Cold War shaped gender roles and ideologies
  • Women’s participation and resistance to the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s-1970s
  • The achievements of Second and Third Wave Feminism
  • Women’s participation in the Counter Culture
  • The fight for Reproductive freedom.
  • The #Metoo Movement
  • Women’s fight for equal pay and equal access to leadership roles