Online Class: American Heroes and Villains

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

American Government

American History Review

Ancient Civilizations 101

Course Motivation

Parameters for the Course

There are entire fields of study that deal with the psychology of what makes people rise above accepted levels of normalcy to attain fame as either a very good person or a social pariah. This is not that course. Rather, here we will attempt to briefly examine some of the factors that might be involved in shaping who these people were and how they came to be well known to the general public.

Since a comprehensive examination of these factors (especially the effects of a person's name, historical surroundings, and psychology) would literally fill volumes and even shelves in a library, it is well beyond the scope of this course to attempt such a feat here. Rather, we will attempt to scratch the surface of these areas and show how they might be relevant to the material presented in later chapters, a departure point for further studies, if you will.

How the Course is Structured 

This course will provide a brief biographical sketch of a number of individuals who have become famous in American history as either heroes (those who have won popular favor and have a strong identity with societal and national values) or villains (those who flagrantly broke the law, the public trust, or otherwise alienated themselves from society).

In some rare cases, certain people cannot be easily classified as either, or are classified as both hero and villain depending on whether or not there is a widespread divergence in public opinion regarding the achievements in their life. For example, Aaron Burr may have been a hero to some, but a villain to others based on the events in his life. These ambiguous personalities will be placed in their own separate section at the end of each lesson, where applicable.

Each lesson that follows will be organized by era of American history. For the purposes of this course, we will divide the timeline as follows, Early America, Colonial America, Revolutionary America, The Young Republic, Expansion and Reform Era, Civil War and Reconstruction, The Wild West and the Second Industrial Revolution, World War I, World War II and the Korean war, Post War to the End of the Century, and The New Millennium.

Each entry within each historical era will appear as follows.

Name. The name of the person highlighted.

Role. Hero or Villain (or It Depends).

Area. This is the area of society that this individual pertains to, industry, politics, military, entertainment, and so on. An example of categories used here are Political Leader, Entertainer, Industrialist, Terrorist, and others.

Bio. The main section of each person's entry will contain biographical and historical data related to that person. This section basically tells why he or she is considered a hero or a villain with regards to the United States.

Trivia. On occasion, a tidbit of interesting information will be featured here. There may not be a trivia section for all the people referenced in the course, however.

Quotes. Famous (or infamous) quotes either spoken by the person at hand or about them are provided here. This is to give a more complete sense of who this person is or was, using their own words. Not every person will have a quote from or about them.

What's in a Name?

There is a great deal of debate regarding whether or not a person's name has any effect on their personality. If a person is named Patience, does that mean they will be more patient (or guarantee they will be impatient)? If Adolf Hitler were called Bob Hitler, would that have made any significant impact on his legacy of evil? While there are studies to support the case and those that deny it, the jury is still out on this aspect of human life. However, a few facts seem germane to our study here, namely,

Carpe Diem: A Note about the Times

The times in which a person lives is an important component of shaping how they live their lives and, ultimately, creating who they will become. For example, Alexander Graham Bell could not have invented the telephone without the prior inventions and discoveries that had gone before him. He, of course, could not have invented it after it had already been invented, either, so the window of opportunity for distinguishing himself could only be found in a very narrow historical time period.

The Psychology of Greatness

According to Friedrich Nietzsche, there are certain people in our world who are born for greatness. He called these individuals Übermensch (or "over men"), and claimed that they were imbued with certain qualities that propelled them to greatness above the masses. Whether or not this philosophical position is entirely true still remains a matter for debate. What is not debatable, however, is that some people do seem predisposed to distinguish themselves in one way or another, far more so than their contemporaries. Those who do so in positive ways are considered heroes; those who do so in evil or socially unacceptable ways are forever branded as villains.