Reconstruction and Jim Crow

Abraham Lincoln is a good place to begin an examination of Reconstruction.

Sectionalism and a "House Divided"

Professor Fears here focuses on the Mexican War and the addition of new territories. The late Dr. J. Rufus Fears examines the sectional differences in the antebellum period.

Reform and the "Peculiar Institution" of Slavery

The following are three parts of a well produced documentary on slavery in Aemrica. It is a broad overview from slavery's introduction in Virginia to the Civil War. There's a bit of overlap with the second part of this documentary in this third and last clip. The following clips center on the Seneca Falls Convention.

Expanding the Economy, Expanding Democracy in the Age of Jackson

Your textbook author Eric Foner on the Market revolution. A neat interview with the author Peter Bernstein about the building and subsequent impact of the Erie Canal. An amateur--but informative--clip on the Lowell System and "Lowell girls." A brief documentary (narrated by Edward Herman) focusing on Jackson, Indian removal, and Nullification. The clip below (this time narrated by TV president Martin Sheen) centers on how Andrew Jackson reformulated a more activist conceptualization for the office of the Chief e xecutive. The clip below gives a nicely brief overview of Jackson's great opponent Henry Clay; pay particular attention to Clay's American System.

The Constitution, Federalism and Jefferson

A brief overview that reinforces much of what we discussed in lecture. "The Constitutional Convention for Dummies": The title is pretty much illustrative. But it does lay out some of the basic elements of the debate. Another installation of Professor Fears on the constructing of the Constitution: Now Dr. Fears focuses on the Constitution and (especially)the Bill of Rights:

European Imperialism and the American Revolution

This lecture about the history of freedom was delivered by a former professor of mine, the late, great J. Rufus Fears of the University of Oklahoma. Besides the influence of my dear departed mother, he is the reason I became a history teacher. From the PBS series "The War that Made America," this clip focuses and the later stages of what the colonists called the French and Indian War. A nice break . . . from Schoolhouse Rock . . . From "America the Story of Us." This usefully simplistic "Articles of Confederation for Dummies" covers the basics. Keep in mind, the Articles was the form of governmental that grows out of colonialism and the Revolution.

Colonialism and the Europeanization of America

The clip below is from the noted History Channel series called "In Search Of" and narrated by the famous Leonard Nimoy (the first Mr. Spock for you younger trekies). It is speculative and overly dramatic, but it paints a broad outline of the mysterious Roanoke colony. Although this brief documentary places the settlement on the wrong bank of the James River, it gives an overview of the earliest years of Jamestown. From "America the Story of Us," this clip focuses on the importance of John Rolfe and tobacco in early Virginia. Later it examinies the establishment of the New England colonies.