HIST 253 History of the United States since 1877

Course Overview

This class will present an overview of U.S. history since 1877. The class will explore general trends in political and social history, such as immigration, civil rights, and industrialization, as well as specific watershed events such as the Haymarket bombing, the Dust Bowl, and the Watergate scandal. Students will examine these events through secondary literature and a variety of online primary sources, including newspaper articles, films, music recordings, radio programs, photographs, advertisements, and posters.

Texts

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History, Volume 2, Seagull Edition (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005), at the University bookstore at the Sir George Williams (downtown) campus.

Primary documents, all available online.

Assessment

Successful completion of the course depends on regular attendance in class, evidence of preparation and application, active participation in class discussions based on close readings of the required texts, and completion of all assignments on time.

1. Midterm I - 35%

2. Midterm II - 35%

3. Research Paper - 30%

Participation

Attendance at lectures is essential-to complete all written assignments you will need information provided during lectures.

People who actively participate in class discussions during the semester will have their final grades raised by half a grade (i.e. if your grade based on midterms and research paper is a B+ your final grade will be an A).

Deadlines

The penalty for late papers and projects will be 5% of the grade per day. No extensions will be granted except in cases of a DOCUMENTED emergency.

Assignments

Midterms I and II

Both midterms will consist of two parts, both based on lectures and assigned primary documents. Part A quotes will be taken from documents assigned for weeks prior to the midterm. Three essay study questions will be given a week in advance.

Part A: Identify, situate chronologically (approximately), and briefly explain any THREE of the FOUR provided quotes from primary documents assigned for this class (worth 40%). Answer these questions about each: Who said it? What was he or she referring to? What major theme in post-1877 American history this quote relates to? Why are this quote and the person who said it important?

Part B: Answer any ONE of the TWO provided questions with a complete, well-organized essay (worth 60%).

Research Essay

Americans used many techniques to search for work in the hard times of the 1930s--walking to the factory gate, talking to friends and relatives, consulting employment bureaus and school referral services, and, of course, poring over newspaper want ads. By the 1920s, about two thousand employment notices appeared daily. While the want ads could be a source of opportunity, they were also a mechanism for discrimination.

In this assignment, we will use the online version of the New York Times to build a database of information on what kinds of people employers deemed appropriate--and inappropriate--for particular jobs. Using this collected information, we will then try to draw useful conclusions about what opportunities and restrictions people looking for jobs faced during the Great Depression. Read detailed description of this assignment.

Policies

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is an affront to me and to your peers. Plagiarism is submitting work that is not your own as if it were yours. This includes copying material, even a few sentences, from published or unpublished sources, from the internet, or from another student without citing the source. It also includes presenting another person's ideas or paraphrasing the work of another person without citing the source. Plagiarism also includes handing in bought papers, papers obtained from free essay websites, or having another person write your paper for you. Anyone suspected of copying other people's work without clear acknowledgement, or of any comparable act, will be reported to the Faculty of Arts and Science for plagiarism.

Syllabus: I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus during the year if/as necessary. Please check the online syllabus before every class.

Schedule

Use textbook chapters as background reading for each week. All assigned readings are available online. You are expected to print out the item so that you will have it with you in class.

Week I: Introduction

Jan. 3. Course Introduction

Week II: The Gilded Age (Foner, Ch. 16)

Jan. 8 Industrialization - slides
Document: Louis Ling, Address to the Court, Famous Speeches of the Chicago Anarchists (Chicago: 1912). Reprinted in Dave Roediger and Franklin Rosemont, eds., Haymarket Scrapbook (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1986), 46-47.

Jan. 10 Westward Expansion - slides
Document: George Kills in Sight Describes the Death of Indian Leader Crazy Horse

Week III: Limits of Freedom at Home and Abroad (Foner, Ch. 17)

Jan. 15 Populism - slides
Document: Mary Elizabeth Lease, Speech to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1890

Jan. 17 Imperialism - slides
Document: Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899"

Week IV: The Progressive Era and World War I (Foner, Chs. 18 and 19)

Jan. 22 Immigration and Reform - slides
Document: B.E.G. Jewett (Evansville, Indiana), "To the editor," Detroit Socialist, 4 May 1878.

Jan. 24 The War Abroad and Civil Liberties at Home - slides
Document: A. Mitchell Palmer, "The Case Against the 'Reds,'" Forum 63 (1920): 173-185.

Week V: The Twenties (Foner, Ch. 20) - slides