HIST 2620: United States History since 1865
Big Questions in U.S. History
Spring 2016
SECT 002 – MWF 9-9:50, WH 122
SECT 003 – MWF 10-10:50, WH 122
Dr. Rachel Louise Moran
Office Hours: M/W 1-3 p.m. & by appointment
Department of History --- Office WH 248
(best way to reach me)
Office phone: 940-369-5120
Teaching Assistants (TA)
If you have questions about lectures, assignments, grading, etc. etc., your TA is your first line of defense. TAs are graduate students in history. TAs can change grades (if appropriate!), assess quiz concerns, clarify course material, etc..
SECT 002 – 9:00-9:50
Last name A-KLast name L-Z
Joseph RzeppaCodee Scott
10:00-10:30 on MW & 12:00-1:30 on MW MW 8-9
Wooten Hall 211Wooten Hall 267B
SECT 003–10-10:50
Last name A-KLast name L-Z
Michael AdamsEric Windsor
M/W 11-1M/W 11-12
Wooten Hall 211Wooten Hall 211
Supplemental Instructors (SIs)
A Supplemental Instruction (SI) component is provided for all students who want to improve their understanding of the material taught in this course. SI sessions are led by a student who has been successful with the course material and has been trained to facilitate group sessions where students can meet to compare class notes, review and discuss important concepts, develop strategies for studying, and prepare for exams. Attendance at SI sessions is free and voluntary. On average, students who attend supplemental instruction once a week, earn a significantly higher course grade than those who do not attend. SI sessions begin the second week of class and continue throughout the semester. A session schedule will be announced in class.
-Your SI Leader is Brecken Wellborn, and can be contacted at
REQUIRED readings:
-Primary Pauses [PP], on Blackboard
-[OS] Open Stax textbook, linked through blackboard and at
-Blackboard is accessible at – You need your UNT username and password. If you encounter TECHNICAL trouble with Blackboard, there are several steps to take. You can (A) go to support in Sage 130 (B) Call student blackboard support at 940-565-2324 or (C) check out help desk FAQs & info at I will not humor an excuse of technical trouble with blackboard without a documented case of you contacting tech support! (they document it and give you a case number)
TIPS for Success
There is no physical *book* to buy --- so now that I’ve saved you $100, please redirect some of that money to:
-HAVING YOUR TOOLS: A #2 pencil and a pen – needed for all exams!
-LISTENING IN LECTURE: Coffee, tea, a new alarm clock – whatever you need to get to and stay alert during class. The lecture and in class discussion is important to your success.
-BRINGING READINGS: Printer ink and paper, or a laptop/tablet charger…you should ALWAYS have the required reading, especially the primary pauses [PP] in class with you. I’ll usually put them on the board to discuss, but they can be hard to read up there.
-TAKING NOTES: Whether on paper or a computer or whatever works for you, take course notes. To start off, focus on (1) writing down the Testable Terms [TT] and getting an explanation of each down during lecture, and (2) gather evidence related to the BIG QUESTION of the day, the kind of evidence that will help you pick a side/write an essay.
-KEEPING ON TOP OF DEADLINES: Put all three exam grades in your planner TODAY! I will remind you about quizzes, but they are due almost every Monday this semester at 9am CT. So put those in your planner (perhaps for the Fri/Sat/Sun before).
-NOTE: Blackboard closes Saturday nights at 11pm-Sunday mornings at 2am– plan quiz taking accordingly
-GETTING HELP if you need it. You can contact your TA, and then me (Dr. Moran) with difficulties you are having. You can contact your Sis or the History Help Center (WH 220) if you need help studying or outlining an essay or understanding terms.
Graded Assignments
Exam 1 (250 points)*
-20 multiple choice questions (7.5 points each, 150 total)
-1 essay (100 points)
Exam 2 (250 points)*
-20 multiple choice questions (7.5 points each, 150 total)
-1 essay (100 points)
Exam 3 (250 points)*
-20 multiple choice questions (7.5 points each, 150 total)
-1 essay (100 points)
Quizzes (250 points total)**
-Quizzes are taken online, and must be taken by 8 a.m.WEDNESDAY mornings
-These cover the online textbook (your Monday reading) and the primary pause (your Wednesday reading)
-You can take them as early as you want, so there are no make-ups – plan ahead.
-These are “open book.”
-There are 12 quizzes offered.
-Each quiz has 5 questions, worth 5 points each (aka 25 total points possible per quiz).
For each TT and each reading, ask: “What is so significant about this?” – That (not tiny details) is what you will be tested on.
Please refer to the online (blackboard) rubric for essay grading basics. You will get this rubric as part of each test packet, and we use it as the basis of your essay grades. We will discuss essay writing much more before exam #1.
** 12 quizzes, worth up to 25 each. 300 points actually possible. Quiz score is YOUR SCORE/250 – so you can skip 2 quizzes, ace the rest, and still get all 250 points. OR you can take all the quizzes, do so-so, and benefit from all the bonus chances. OR you can take all quizzes, rock all quizzes, and receive up to 50 bonus points toward your grade!
Quizzes can be taken at any time BEFORE the class they are due. We go over quiz questions in class the day they are due, so there are NO make-up quizzes or late quizzes allowed in any circumstances. You both have a built-in quiz grade cushion (those 50 points) *and* the ability to take your quizzes way ahead of time if you anticipate trouble.
Essays:
Unit I Essays:
1) Was Reconstruction a Success?
2) Just how “Wild” was the Wild West?
2) What enabled the U.S. to become a world power at the turn of the century?
Unit II Essays:
1) Was the New Deal radical?
2) Was WWII the “Good War?”
3) Was there a “consensus” period in the 1950s?
Unit III Essays:
1) Why was the Civil Rights Movement successful when it was?
2) Who (or what) was responsible for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?
3) What explains the “rise of the right” in 1970s and 1980s America?
Accessibility
The University of North Texas makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking reasonable accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation (ODA) to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide you with a reasonable accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your specific needs in a course. You may request reasonable accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of reasonable accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of reasonable accommodation for every semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. Students are strongly encouraged to deliver letters of reasonable accommodation during faculty office hours or by appointment. Faculty members have the authority to ask students to discuss such letters during their designated office hours to protect the privacy of the student. For additional information see the Office of Disability Accommodation website at You may also contact them by phone at 940.565.4323.
Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity is defined in the UNT Policy on Student Standards for Academic Integrity. Any suspected case of Academic Dishonesty will be handled in accordance with the University Policy and procedures. Possible academic penalties range from a verbal or written admonition to a grade of “F” in the course. Further sanctions may apply to incidents involving major violations. You will find the policy and procedures at:
Missing Class
I do NOT take attendance. Your attendance is your own responsibility. A very large percentage of exams are based on in class materials, lectures, and discussions, so with every class you miss you put yourself at a serious disadvantage. Your TAs and Sis DO NOT take notes to share with you – this is true whether missed class are for good/”excused” reasons or not. Your TAs can, though, discuss course notes with you once you have obtained them from a classmate. Missing classes for any reason does not exempt you from learning the material that day, and you will need to take initiative to cover the material.
Missing Quizzes
There are very few reasonable excuses for missing a quiz. You can take quizzes well ahead of time, so last minute technology problems or last minute illnesses make for poor excuses. You can take them from home or school. They are open for thirty minutes, but seriously should not even take five minutes. You also have TWO built in “drop” quizzes (though, as discussed elsewhere, taking ALL the quizzes is to your advantage).
Because of the ample opportunities you have for quiz taking, the dropped quizzes built into your grade, AND frankly because blackboard makes quiz make-ups super complicated, there are simply NO quiz make-ups. In the interest of fairness, this is the policy for everyone. If you have concerns about the policy, please speak directly with me (Dr. Moran).
The one exception: If you miss Quiz #1, because you were not yet enrolled in the course, you may make that quiz up during the first month of class. This will have to be done in person (not online) and you MUST talk with me (Dr. Moran) to arrange for this.
Missing Exams
Our exam schedule is not as flexible as our quiz set-up, alas. Exam dates are clear from day 1, and so all these dates should be prominently on your calendar now. I expect you to take exams at the appropriate time.
If you have a DOCUMENTED excuse, such as serious illness or university-sanctioned travel, you may schedule a make-up. Make-ups MUST be discussed within one week of the exam, and must be taken within two weeks of the exam unless there are truly extenuating circumstances (as decided by your professor).
Make-up tests may be in a different format that the original exam. In most cases, make-ups have two essays and no choice for which essays you write.
History Help Lab – Wooten Hall 220 –
For scheduled make-ups, but also for general history tutoring and help!
How class is structured:
We meet three times a week, for 50 minutes each session. There will sometimes be time-period appropriate music playing in the couple minutes leading into class. I urge you to listen to it as you get settled. I will turn off the music and begin class promptly, please quiet down quickly.
Each class begins with course announcements, if there are any. Otherwise, we proceed with the lecture.
Lecture begins with a BIG question. This is an historiographical question, meaning a question historians still argue about today. Some questions are juicier than others, but all are designed to guide us through the process of historians – the work of sifting through various sources for evidence that can help us answer the BIG question. There is NOT a “right” answer. There ARE better and worse answers, though, based on how good the evidence we can bring to bear is.
The BIG question slide also lists key vocabulary terms for the day. Write down these “testable terms,” and try to make sense of them as we go. The goal is not just to DEFINE the terms, but to know the SIGNIFICANCE of the terms, aka, why THOSE specific terms are worth knowing long after you forget the nitty-gritty details.
I discuss the BIG question, especially providing some background information and broader context. Then, with class participation, we begin outlining the material we need to answer that question.
Each Wednesday class will include at least one Primary Pause (PP) as we consider how historians try to deal with BIG questions. The primary pause is listed on the syllabus because you will want to print or download a copy of the document and do a quick read of the document before class. We will discuss the document, its context, and how to use it to support a thesis about the BIG question of the day.
At the end of the class we return to our BIG question. I’ll raise a couple points about the question, which, I hope, will leave you thinking about the complexities of it. When you leave class each day, you should have a grasp on the BIG question and the testable terms.
Your grade in the course is based on a combination of multiple choice and essay examinations, as well as quiz scores.
Schedule(subject to change, but always with notice)
UNIT I: 1877-1914
-date- / -topic- / -Readings Due- / -Quizzes/Tests-W1/20 / Introduction / - / -
F 1/22 / Big Questions in US History/Civil War / - / -
M 1/25 / Was Reconstruction a Success? / [OS]: Chapter 16
W 1/27 / Was Reconstruction a Success? / [PP]: “This is a White Man’s Government,” “The First Vote,” and “Worse than Slavery” / Reading Quiz 1
(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 1/29 / Was Reconstruction a Success? / - / -
M 2/1 / Just how “Wild” was the Wild West? (1 – How the west grew) / [OS]: Chapter 17
/ -
W 2/3 / Just how “Wild” was the Wild West?(2 – Who won – and who lost – the west?) / [PP]: newspaper editorial and congressional testimony on the Sand Creek Massacre / Reading Quiz 2
(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 2/5 / Just how “Wild” was the Wild West?(3 – why the frontier closed) / - / -
M 2/8 / How did the U.S. become a world power? (1 – Capitalism) / [OS]: Chapter 22
3.15:WyjMIc_C@2/Introduction
/ -
W 2/10 / How did the U.S. become a world power? (2 – The Spanish American War) / [PP]: poems: “The White Man’s Burden” &“The Real White Man’s Burden” / Reading Quiz 3 (on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 2/12 / How did the U.S. become a world power? (3 – Empire) / - / -
M 2/15 / Review Session 1 / Go over study guide before class
W 2/17 / Exam 1 / Exam 1 in Class
UNIT II: 1914-1960
-date- / -topic- / - Readings Due - / Quizzes/TestsF 2/19 / The U.S. in World War I / [OS]: Chapter 23
/ -
M 2/22 / Were the 1920s forward looking or backward looking? (1 – isolation politics) / [OS]: Chapter 24
/ -
W 2/24 / Were the 1920s forward looking or backward looking? (2 – prohibition) / [PP]: prohibition political cartoons / Reading Quiz 4(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 2/26 / Were the 1920s forward looking or backward looking? (3 – consumer culture) / - / -
M 2/29 / Was the New Deal Radical? (1 – Hoover and the Depression) / [OS]: Chapters 25 and 26
(focus on 26)
/ -
W 3/2 / Was the New Deal Radical? (2 – FDR and the New Deal)
*go over exam 1* / [PP]: FDR’s Fireside Chat #1 / Reading Quiz 5(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 3/4 / Was the New Deal Radical? (3 – New Deal opposition, right and left) / - / -
M 3/7 / Was WWII really the ‘Good War’? (1 – U.S. involvement abroad) / [OS] Chapter 27
/ -
W 3/9 / Was WWII really the ‘Good War’? (2 – The Home Front – gains and losses) / [PP]: Explore website “A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution” (focus on “removal,” “internment,” and “loyalty”)
/ Reading Quiz 6(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 3/11 / Was WWII really the ‘Good War’? (3 – Dropping the Bomb – pros and cons) / - / -
M 3/21 / Was there an American “Consensus” in the 50s? (1 – the new post-war order) / [OS] Chapter 28
/ -
W 3/23 / Was there an American “Consensus” in the 50s? (2 – McCarthyism) / [PP]: Kitchen Debates transcript / Reading Quiz 7
(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 3/25 / Was there an American “Consensus” in the 50s? (3 – Kennedy and Cuba in the 1960s) / - / -
M 3/28 / Review Session 2 / - / -
W 3/30 / Exam 2 / - / Exam 2 in class
UNIT III: 1960-Present
-date- / -topic- / -Required- / -Due-F 4/1 / Culture in the 50s+60s / No reading.
M 4/4 / What spurred the social change of the 1960s?
(Civil Rights Movement) / [OS]: Chapter 29
W 4/6 / What spurred the social change of the 1960s?
(Feminist, Gay Liberation, etc.) / [PP]: song lyrics packet / Reading Quiz 8(on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 4/8 / What spurred the social change of the 1960s?
(Radicalization) / - / -
M 4/11 / Who is responsible for the Vietnam War? (1 - entry into war) / [OS]: Chapter 30
W 4/13 / Who was Responsible for the Vietnam War? (pt 2 - the war) / [PP]: LBJ speeches from 1964 and 1965 / Reading Quiz 9 (on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 4/15 / Who was Responsible for the Vietnam War? (pt 3 – battles at home) / - / -
M 4/18 / How did the Right “rise”? (pt 1 – 1968) / No reading.
W 4/20 / How did the Right “rise”? (pt 2 – The 1970s) / [PP]: Nixon Silent Majority Speech / Reading Quiz 10 (on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 4/22 / How did the Right “rise”? (pt 3 – Ronald Reagan and the 1980s) / -
M 4/25 / America in the 1990s / [OS]: Chapter 31
W 4/27 / America in and after 9/11/2001 / [PP]: op-eds for and against the Patriot Act / Reading Quiz 11 (on blackboard – BEFORE class)
F 4/29 / America in the 2000s / - / -
M 5/1 / America Today? / [OS]: Chapter 32
/ -
W 5/3 / Review Session 3 / - / Reading Quiz 12 (on blackboard) – will only be about Monday’s reading.
Exam 3 –
UNT’s spring final exam schedule
Sect. 002 (9am) – Exam 3 is 5/11 (Wednesday) at 8am
Sect. 003 (10am) – Exam 3 is on 5/7 (Saturday!) at 8am