UNITED STATES HISTORY

History 1302

Fall 2008 Room K-213

Instructor: David O’Donald Cullen, Ph.D.

Office: J-244

Office Hrs: MW 11:00-1:00 TR 11:30- 1:30 and by appointment

Phone: (972) 881-5965; email: dcullen@ccccd.edu

Credit: 3hrs

Text: George Tindall and David Shi, America: A Narrative History, Vol. II, seventh edition (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007)

One historian described the history of the United States of America in the twentieth century as a “troubled feast.” A feast because of the widespread affluence made possible by the prodigious expansion of the economy, technological advances that made material life far more comfortable than ever expected, and the extension of political liberties to more Americans than ever before. A troubled feast because of the emergence of private units of economic power which were unimagined before this century, the malignant effects of world wars, the endemic emotional and physical violence of segregation, and the persistence of social ills, all of which has destroyed the American sense of community. Yet, this historian, William Leuchtenberg, agrees with the words of Tom Paine, “that we have in our power to begin the world all over again.”

This course is designed to examine the areas that typify this “troubled feast.” Unit one will survey how the country responded to the emergence of Corporate Capitalism during the period 1880-1920. Unit two will exam the country’s search for order at home and abroad between 1920 and 1950. Unit three will explore the period known as the Sixties and why young Americans believed that the reality of the country did not live-up to the promise of America and the country’s reaction to the Sixties.

At the conclusion of each unit, an exam will be given. Each test will consist of twenty multiple choice questions (three points each) and one essay (forty points). There are three in-class writing assignments, each worth thirty-three points. The total points for the writing assignments have the same value as an exam score (100 points). Your final grade for the course will be the average of these four scores. The grading scale is: A=100-90 B=89-80 C=79-70 D=69-60 F=59-0.

Please note that it is the policy of Collin County Community College to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who are students with disabilities. The college will adhere to all applicable Federal, State, and the local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the services for Students with Disabilities at (972) 881-5950 in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

COURSE OUTLINES AND READINGS

UNIT ONE

August 25-Sept. 25

THE SEARCH FOR ORDER: AMERICA BETWEEN 1880 AND 1920

CHAPTERS 20-25

UNIT TWO

OCTOBER 8-OCTOBER 30

THE SEARCH FOR ORDER: AMERICA BETWEEN 1920 AND 1950

CHAPTERS 26-31

UNIT THREE

NOVEMBER 3-DECEMBER 4

THE PROMISE AND THE REALITY OF AMERICA BETWEEN 1950 AND 1990

CHAPTERS 32-36

COURSE EVALUATION

The grade for the course will be the average of your four scores. All APPROVED make-up exams must be taken the last class last meeting before final exam week. There is no extra credit available nor are the test scores or final grade curved. Last Day To Withdraw From The Course Is Nov. 14.

TEST AND WRITING SCHEDULE

You will need a mini-essay book for the unit exams and a number two pencil. All assignments will be completed in the classroom.

Sept. 10 (MW) Sept. 11 (TR): In-class writing assignment

Sept. 24 (MW) Sept. 25 (TR): Unit One Exam

Oct. 15 (MW) Oct. 16 (TR): In-class writing assignment

Oct. 29 (MW) Oct. 30 (TR): Unit Two Exam

Nov. 24 (MW) Nov. 25 (TR): In-class writing assignment

Final Exam Schedule: MW 1:00 Dec. 10

MW 2:30 Dec. 8

TR 8:30 Dec. 11

TR 10:00 Dec. 9

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND BEHAVIOR

You are expected to attend all classes. Please do not enter the classroom after class has begun. If you arrive late on a regular basis you will be withdrawn from the course. Please turn off cell phones, pagers, etc… A computer may be used only for the purpose of taking notes. If the computer is used for any other purpose an incident report will be filed and you will be sent to the Dean Students. Classroom conduct that is disruptive will not be tolerated and if necessary the student will be withdrawn from the course. Students are expected to perform all assignments and take exams without notes or outside assistance. If cheating or plagiarism is detected, all parties involved will be denied any credit for that assignment or exam and the situation will be referred to the Dean of Students.

A course in which a grade (including W) has been received can be repeated only one time to replace the grade.

You may drop no more than six classes in your undergraduate career

UNIT ONE STUDY GUIDE

Chapters 20-25

Reasons for rapid industrialization, 1880-1900 (chapter 20, 802-12)

John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan (chapter 20, 812-820)

Conditions of the working poor

Knight of Labor

Haymarket Square Bombing

American Federation of Labor

Samuel Gompers

Homestead and Pullman Strikes (chapter 20, 823-34)

Socialism

Eugene Debs

Urban life and culture (chapter 21, 842-89)

Social Darwinism and Social Reformers (chapter 21, 874-89)

Conditions of working farmers

National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union

Ocala Demands

Populist Party, 1892-1900

Election of 1896 (Gold vs. Silver)

William Jennings Bryan

Progressive Movement

Robert LaFollette

Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, 1901-1908

Herbert Croly, The promise of American Life

Triangle Shirtwaiste Fire

Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, 1912-1920

Domestic Reforms

American Diplomacy, 1880-1920

Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis

Alfred T. Mahan’s Sea Power Theory

Josiah Strong’s Our Country (manifest destiny)

Spanish-American War, 1898 (Teller Amendment)

Debate over acquisition of the Philippines

Open Door Notes (chapter 23, 954-56)

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Woodrow Wilson and the Great War

United States Neutrality

Sussex Pledge and Zimmermann Note

Fourteen Points

Committee on Public Information

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Treaty of Versailles

Article X of the League Charter

Themes: The Search for Order (home and abroad); the role of government in the modern economy; individual versus collective responsibility in the modern industrial urban society

UNIT TWO STUDY GUDIE

Chapters 26-31

Red Scare

Madison Grant, The Passing of the Great Race

Immigration Act of 1924

Ku Klux Klan

Fundamentalism

Scopes Trial

Science and Culture in the modern age (chapter 26, 1059-79)

1920s economy

Economic problems

Great Depression

Herbert Hoover

Bonus Army March

Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal

Bank Holiday (F.D.I.C.)

Home Owners Loan Cooperation

Civilian Conservation Corps

Works Progress Administration

T.V.A., A.A.A., and the N.I.R.A. (chapter 28, 1128-34)

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)

Social Security Act

Rural Electrification Act

Roosevelt’s critics (chapter 28, 1144-46)

Isolationism

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Nye Investigation

Neutrality Acts, 1935-1937

World War II (chapter 30, 1191-1235)

Diplomatic goals, obstacles and problems of W.W.II

Yalta Conference

Harry Truman and the bomb

George Kennan and the policy of containment

Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift

Korean War, China, and the Arms Race

C.I.A. and N.S.A.-68

Second Red Scare

H.U.A.C. and Hollywood

Alger Hiss

Joe McCarthy and the Blacklist

Cold war culture (M.A.D., Brinksmanship and “Duck and Cover”)

Themes: The Cultural Wars of the 1920s; Causes of the Great Depression and the country’s response; origins of the Cold War

UNIT THREE STUDY GUIDE

CHAPTERS 32-36

The Generation Gap

The Rules

Fifties Culture (chapter 32, 1278-1293)

Civil Rights Movement

Brown Decision

Southern White Response, Massive Resistance

Southern Black Response, Non-violent Civil Disobedience

Emmett Till Murder

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Martin Luther King and the S.C.L.C.

Little Rock

Sit-Ins and the S.N.C.C.

Non-violent direct action

Freedom Rides

Children’s Crusade and Letter from Birmingham Jail

Mississippi: James Meredith, Medgar Evers, and Freedom Summer

Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts

Students for a Democratic Society

Port Huron Statement (participatory democracy)

Free Speech Movement (Mario Savio)

Student Activism, 1960-1965

Presidency of John Kennedy

Presidency of Lyndon Johnson

The Great Society and the War on Poverty (The Other America)

The war in Vietnam

1968: Tet, Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and the anti-war movement

Richard Nixon and Vietnam

Cambodia, Kent State and Jackson State

Silent Majority and Watergate

Single issue movements

Black Power Movement (Malcolm X and the Black Panthers)

American Indian Movement

Gay Movement (Stonewall Rebellion)

Chicano Movement (Cesar Chavez)

Environmental Movement (Earth Day)

Women’s Movement (Betty Friedan and N.O.W.)

Presidency of Jimmy Carter (chapter 35, 1423-1429)

Election and presidency of Ronald Reagan

Modern Conservative Movement

Christian Coalition

Cultural Wars

The end of the Cold War

Post cold war diplomacy

Themes: The Promise and the Reality of Post WWII America; The Personal is Political; Modern American Conservatism