Spring 2027

Amer Hist to the Civil War Era, the Origin & Growth of the U S

Survey of American political, economic, and social development from colonial founding to the Civil War, focusing on Atlantic context, nation-building, and early tensions.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Francis Russo4.0/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Gloria Whiting

Students reported a decent amount of work, including check-in quizzes and papers, but noted the course setup was perfect for those juggling other classes.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe major developments of early American history, specifically: how the early American colonies developed in the context of a rich and interconnected world centered on the Atlantic Ocean; how those colonies created the United States; and how tensions in the nation's early history ultimately led to the Civil War.

  • Discuss how historians know what they know about the past and why understandings of the past change over time.

  • Do what historians do: ask questions about the past and answer them using primary sources.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
HISTORY 101

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 from 6 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.69 GPA, 85.3% A/AB (n=129 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.42 GPA, 75.3% A/AB (n=73 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

FRANCIS RUSSO is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GLORIA WHITING is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOHN B SHARPLESS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2012, Fall 2013, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JUSTINE WALDEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 720
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 180

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Gloria Whiting

Past students found the course structure manageable for busy schedules, noting that engaging lectures and non-cumulative assessments made the material accessible and interesting.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.23 GPA, 64.2% A/AB (n=120 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.69 GPA, 85.3% A/AB (n=129 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.42 GPA, 75.3% A/AB (n=73 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Gloria Whiting

Students reported a decent amount of work, including check-in quizzes and papers, but noted the course setup was perfect for those juggling other classes.

Past student reviews · Gloria Whiting

Students appreciated the participation-based lectures and caring instruction. Quizzes were described as a fair way to gauge understanding, though some found them a bit difficult.

Topics

  • American political, economic, and social development from colonial founding to the Civil War.
  • Development of early American colonies within an interconnected Atlantic world.
  • Creation of the United States and early national tensions leading to the Civil War.
  • Historiography: how historians construct knowledge and why interpretations change.

Skills

  • Ask historical questions and answer them using primary sources.
  • Discuss historiographical methods and changing interpretations of the past.
  • Analyze American political, economic, and social development from colonial founding to the Civil War.

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 4 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.29 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
HISTORY 101 · Spring 2027

Amer Hist to the Civil War Era, the Origin & Growth of the U S

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:448:009043",
    "course_id": "HISTORY 101",
    "course_uid": "course_2b4d35ea75108be033dce1d9",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "009043",
    "source_subject_id": "448",
    "title": "Amer Hist to the Civil War Era, the Origin & Growth of the U S",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "e4574e74d27da424e2b7061c7f4df5c7ee41ef1d40902bb6793e16106351d2a9",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}