United States History since 1865

Requirements:

All students registered for the course are responsible for class attendance and all scheduled examinations. Examinations will cover the assigned reading in the textbook and the material covered in the lectures. The lectures are intended to introduce students to problems and issues which are central to the development of the society and culture of the modern United States. They are not meant to be a substitute for the careful narrative of events provided by the textbook.

Examinations:

There will be two mid-term examinations during the term in addition to the final. Students will need bluebooks (available in the university bookstore) for each examination. They will total 100 points each. Three examination bluebooks must be turned in to me or my graduate assistant by September 9. In every examination, students should take careful note of the geographic locations associated with the material covered because map questions will be included. It is simply impossible to understand events adequately if you are uncertain about the geography involved.

Class Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all classes. The lectures are an integral part of the course and excessive absences will be treated as a failure to fulfill its requirements. Excused absences will always be allowed for serious health reasons, deaths of members of the immediate family or close friends, or for scheduled university activities. The student has the full responsibility to substantiate that an absence is excused. Any unsubstantiated absences will be considered unexcused. Any student who has more than three(3) unexcused absences may have his/her grade lowered one letter grade at my discretion. Students with more than four(4) unexcused absences are liable to dropped with an F. Regular and repeated tardiness will also be subject to the above penalty (that is, three instances of tardiness can result in the lowering of the students grade and four instances of tardiness will be counted as absences). Students are expected to participate in the entire class. Anyone who has cause to leave before the scheduled end of the class must notify me in advance. There is no excuse for disrupting a class by leaving early or regularly arriving late. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off during class. Absolutely no electronic devices.

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will be allowed during an examination. Lap-top computers are allowed to be used during lectures, but they must be used only to take notes during the class. Evidence of any other use will be treated as cause to ban any further use of them by the student. These rules are a reflection of abuses in the past. They are based on the principle that while you are in a college course, you must not do anything which distracts your fellow students and interferes with their ability to concentrate on the material.

Course Outline and Reading Assignments:

Introduction (August 24)

Reconstruction (August 26 - September 2)

The problem of Reconstruction.

Andrew Johnson and development of the presidential efforts at Reconstruction.

Congressional Reconstruction and the impeachment of Johnson.

The South during Reconstruction.

Read: Chapter 16, pp. 385-408.

The United States as an Industrial Giant (September 7-14)

The age of railroad expansion and consolidation.

Iron and steel and the development of the U.S. as a major industrial power.

The impact of industrial growth on social, political, and economic life of the United States.

Read: Chapters 18-19, pp. 433-482.

American Agriculture in the Post-Civil War Era (September 16-21)

Agricultural expansion through the Plains after the Civil War.

Agriculture in the South after the end of slavery.

Technology and agricultural expansion.

Populism: the politics of agricultural discontent.

Read: Chapter 17, pp. 409-432; and Chapter 20, pp. 483-509.

Mid-Term Examination I (September 23)

The Progressive Movement (September 28 - October 7)

Mass society and the development of modern journalism.

The growth of reform consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century.

Muckrakers and urban reformers.

Progressives and the reform of state governments.

The Progressives and the development of the modern presidency:

Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Read: Chapter 22-23, pp. 534-589.

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The appearance of American Imperialism (October 12-14)

European expansionism and imperialism: its influence on Americans.

The growth of the Navy.

The Spanish-American War and its aftermath.

Read: Chapter 21, 510-533.

The Emergence of the United States as a World Power (October 19-26)

Theodore Roosevelt and the intervention of the United States in continental and world affairs.

European politics and the outbreak of World War I.

Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. entry into the war.

The U.S. and the peace settlements.

Read: Chapter 24, pp. 590-617.

Mid-Term Examination II (October 28)

The Roaring Twenties (November 2-4 )

The Republican Ascendancy: Warren G. Harding and the "Return to Normalcy."

The overwhelming of U.S. society by the automobile and advertising.

Boom attitudes in urban America and depression on the farm.

Nativism and the KKK.

Read: Chapter 25, pp. 618-639.

The Great Depression and the New Deal (November 9-16)

The Stock Market crash and the end of the era of speculation.

The world-wide depression of the Thirties.

The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the emergence of the New Deal.

The New Deal and the Supreme Court.

Conservative reaction to the New Deal.

Read: Chapter 26, pp. 640-664.

World War II and the United States as a World Power (November 18-30)

The emergence of totalitarianism in Europe after W.W. I.

The German alliance with the Soviet Union and the outbreak of war in 1939.

Japanese expansion in Manchuria and China in the 1930s.

Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into the war.

The allied war effort, 1939-1945.

The atomic bomb and the end of the war.

Read: Chapter 27, pp. 665-692.

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The era of the Cold War and American political life since 1945 (December 2)

The Berlin crisis, the creation of NATO and the Korean War.

Tensions within the United States since World War II.

The arms race with the Soviet Union.

Viet Nam and the anti-war movement of the 1960s and early 1970s.

The Civil Rights movement: its struggles and achievements.

Read: Chapters 28-30, pp. 693-771.

Final Examination (Tuesday, December 7, 8-10pm.)

Class Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all classes. The lectures are an integral part of the course and excessive absences will be treated as a failure to fulfill its requirements. Excused absences will always be allowed for serious health reasons, deaths of members of the immediate family or close friends, or for scheduled university activities. The student has the full responsibility to substantiate that an absence is excused. Any unsubstantiated absences will be considered unexcused. Any student who has more than three(3) unexcused absences may have his/her grade lowered one letter grade at my discretion. Students with more than four(4) unexcused absences are liable to dropped with an F. Regular and repeated tardiness will also be subject to the above penalty (that is, three instances of tardiness can result in the lowering of the students grade and four instances of tardiness will be counted as absences). Students are expected to participate in the entire class. Anyone who has cause to leave before the scheduled end of the class must notify me in advance. There is no excuse for disrupting a class by leaving early or regularly arriving late. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off during class. Absolutely no electronic devices.