Master Syllabus
U.S. History 2327
Mexican-American History I


The purpose of the History Department is threefold. First we provide excellent instruction in the discipline of history. Second, we provide each student with six semester hours of U.S. History instruction to meet the requirements of the Texas Education Code (51.303). Third, we provide history majors with fifteen semester hours of history instruction to prepare them to successfully pursue a bachelor's or higher degree in history at a four-year college or university.


Course Description: A survey of the political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual history of Mexican Americans from pre-Columbian America to the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction.

Course Rationale: This course fulfills three of the six hour legislative requirement for American history.  Students taking History 2327 can expect to improve their reading and writing competencies, critical thinking skills, research skills, etc.

SCANS Competencies: None required, but students will need good reading, writing, and study skills to succeed in this course.  Students will be required to read from a textbook and, depending on the instructor, may have outside readings and be assigned book reviews and/or research papers.  Writing assignments must observe correct English grammar and spelling.  Although students will be given specific test dates and detailed learning objectives to facilitate study, students will be expected to study the course material in detail to prepare for tests.

Instructional Methodology: Lecture and other methods, depending on the instructor and the particular format of the course.

Course Policies: Policies on attendance, withdrawals, incompletes, student discipline, and academic freedom vary by instructor.  However, the entire history department adheres to the following statements in regard to scholastic dishonesty and students with disabilities.
a) “Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations and home work.”
b) “Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes.  Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.”

General Education Competencies: upon completion of the general education component of an associate’s degree, students will demonstrate competence in:
1. Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information (Critical Thinking)
2. Analyzing and critiquing competing perspectives in a democratic society (Civic Awareness)
3. Comparing, contrasting, and interpreting differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas,. Aesthetic traditions and cultural practices (Cultural Awareness)

Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes: upon completion of the A.A. degree in History students will be able to:

1. Use critical thinking in the analysis of historical facts
2. Demonstrate civic awareness in the appraisal of historical contexts
3. Demonstrate cultural awareness in the assessment of historical situations

Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes: upon completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Use critical thinking in the analysis of historical facts
2. Demonstrate civic awareness in the appraisal of historical contexts
3. Demonstrate cultural awareness in the assessment of historical situations

Common Course Objectives: After completing History 2327, the student should be able to:

1. Describe the Native American cultures present in the Western Hemisphere upon the arrival of the Europeans, with particular attention to Central America.

2.  Describe the dominant political, social, and military characteristics of the Spanish people during the Reconquista before 1492.

3.  Discuss the dominant personalities, military strategies, and major battles of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America.

4. Discuss the exploration, colonization, and settlement of Nueva Espana and the region of the present United States.

5. Describe the major racial gene pools in the Mexican mestizaje and the major characteristics of the European, native Mexican, and mestizo groups by 1800.

6. Describe the purpose, distribution, and daily functions of the Spanish mission system in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

7. Trace the chain of events in the 1830s and 1840s that led to the U.S.-Mexico War.

8. Discuss the dominant personalities, military strategies, and major battles of the independence movement in Mexico after 1810.

9. Review the role of Tejanos in the Republic of Texas years and their contributions to Republic policies and institutions.

10. Analyze the ethnic diversity of Texas, New Mexico, and California after the U.S.-Mexico War and the resulting social, cultural, and religious traditions.

11. Discuss “Manifest Destiny” and its effects on Mexican Americans in the expansion of the United States.

12. Trace the expansion of Spanish and Mexican ranching in the eighteenth century in the present Southwestern U.S.

13. Review the colonization of the present-day Southwestern United States by Anglo-Americans in the 1820s and their resulting relationship with the Tejanos, Hispaniola, and Californios.

14. Discuss the role of Mexican Americans in the U.S. Civil War, and describe its political, economic, and social effects on Mexican Americans.

15. Compare and contrast the Spanish colonial/mission system with the English colonial/mercantile system.

16. Review the rise and development of the Texas cattle culture from the vaquero tradition to the Cattle Kingdom.

Syllabi requirements are found HERE.