ChabotCollegeFall 2005
Course Outline for History 21
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN U. S. HISTORY SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
Catalog Description:
21– The African-American Experience in U. S. History Since Reconstruction
3 units
Survey of major themes and issues in of the history of the United States, focusing upon African Americans and the gendered racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity within the nation. Emergence of the country from the Civil War and Reconstruction, tracing such themes as industrialization, immigration and migration, Progressivism, the nation at economic crisis and at war, the rise of social movements and the social and political backlash against them, and the evolving diversity of the nation. Analysis of the role of the local, state, and federal governments and the Constitution as institutions of both consistency and change. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None.
Expected Outcome for Students:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1.identify the origins of African-American history as a field of academic investigation and study;
2.analyze the political, economic and social consequences of Reconstruction
3.evaluate the development of the sharecropping system in the South;
4.explain the rise of industrial capitalism and its impact upon men and women of all races;
5.analyze immigration and its impact upon notions of citizenship and race in the nation;
6.trace the rise of political participation and organization on all levels, including the woman’s suffrage movement, the labor movement and modern black rights organizations (e.g. NAACP, NACW);
7.describe the rise the of nationalism and U.S. imperialism in the context of migration, immigration and changing notions of race, ethnicity and nation;
8.explain the causes, pattern and consequences of the mass migration of African-Americans from the southern states to cities of the North;
9.discuss American participation in World War I and the impact of the war upon notions of political, social and racial diversity;
10.analyze the rise of the culture of consumption and nativism during the 1920s;
11.evaluate the shifting of gender roles during the decade of the 1920s;
12.analyze the causes of the Great Depression and its effects upon diverse communities throughout the nation;
13.explain American participation in World War II and the impact of mobilization upon notions of gender and race in American society;
14.analyze the rise of the Cold War and the politics of fear;
ChabotCollege
Course Outline for History 21
Fall 2005Page 2
Expected Outcome for Students (Cont’d):
15.discuss the development of tactics and strategies in the social movement for civil rights;
16.explain the radicalization of diverse social movements and the emergence of rights movements advancing the interests of heterosexual women and gays and lesbians;
17.examine American involvement in the Vietnam War and the divisions that emerge in American society;
18.describe the class and cultural politics that emerge during the seventies, including the issue of affirmative action;
19.evaluate the implementation and legacy of amendments to the California state constitution and state legislation that has had national political ripple effects;
20.identify the rise of social and political conservatism.
Course Content:
1.Introduction to study of African American history as a field of study and its evolution
2.The re-organization of rural and urban work through industrialization and incorporation, examining sharecropping and the rise of factory labor.
3.Attempts to organize labor and re-imagine American society: the Knights of Labor, A.F.L., I.W.W., the Socialist Party.
4.Immigration, migration and urbanization and their impact upon notions of race, nation and citizenship, emphasizing the expanding diversity of the nation.
5.Nationalism and the beginning of U.S. imperialism: Columbian Exposition, Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War.
6.Reform and the emergence of radical politics; defining the agents and objects of reform; expanding the role of government, with particular focus upon the constitution of the state of California; rise of the Socialist Party and the I.W.W.
7.The expansion of political organization and participation: the women’s suffrage movement; the response to disfranchisement (NAACP, NACW).
8.The emergence of consumer culture and its impact upon gender relations.
9.The rise of nativism and simultaneous vogue of the new Negro during the 1920s.
10.The causes of the collapse of the nation’s economy and the particular impact this collapse has upon the diverse communities of the U.S.; specific discussions include workers and the labor movement, Mexican-Americans in California and African Americans throughout the nation.
11.U.S. involvement in the Second World War and the mobilization of American society; the rise of the defense industries, the bracero program; internment of Japanese-Americans, the Zoot Suit riots; and the emergence of African-American political activism.
12.The end of World War II and the roots of the Cold War; the rise of containment policy; Cold War culture; anti-colonialism movements and their link to early Civil Rights movement.
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Course Outline for History 21
Fall 2005Page 3
Course Content (Cont’d):
13.Political divisions within student social movements and the emergence of student radicalism; the emergence of the women’s movement and the gay and lesbian movement.
14.Vietnam War and the social and political dissent in the nation.
15.The rise of conservatism; Affirmative action and the racial politics of social and cultural diversity.
Methods of Presentation:
1. Lecture and discussion
2.Audio-visual aids
Assignments and Methods of Student Evaluation:
1.Typical Assignments:
a.Students will be assigned a chapter to read from the chosen textbook. In addition, this weekly reading may be supplemented by assignment of primary documents to read. Read Chapter 3 in The African-American Odyssey.
b.Students will write weekly comments and questions, based upon their analysis of the weekly reading assignments. Analyze Chapter 3 in The African-American Odyssey, and write a 2-page paper that comments on the role of the government in expanding civil rights.
c.Students on occasion, will be shown films in class. They will be required to write short reviews and analyses of these films. Write a short review of the film, Africans in America.
- Students, on occasion, will write analyses of primary documents presented in class.
2.Methods of Student Evaluation
a.Short essays
b.In-class and take-home examinations
- Attendance and participation
- Final exam
Textbooks (typical):
The African-American Odyssey, Darlene Clark Hine, et al., Volume I, Prentice Hall,
2005, or latest edition
From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans, John Hope Franklin, et al.,
Volume I, Knopf, 2000, or latest edition
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Course Outline for History 21
Fall 2005
Textbooks (typical) (Cont’d):
The African American Experience,Joe William Trotter, Jr., Volume I, Houghton Mifflin,
2001, or latest edition
To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans, Robin D.G. Kelley and Earl Lewis, eds., Oxford University Press, 2000, or latest edition
African American Mosaic: A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to the Twenty-First Century, John H. Bracey, Prentice Hall, 2004, or latest edition
Special Student Materials:
None.
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