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Summer 2014
History 18:US History: 1865-Present
Section #82786, Monday and Wednesday, 6:00 – 9:20 pm, FNLC-120
Final Exam: Wednesday, July 30, 6:00 – 9:20 pm, FNLC-120
Class Website:
Text: The American Journey, Volume II (Seventh Edition)
by David Goldfield, et al, 2011. ISBN: 9780205960958
Available at ChaffeyCollege Bookstore.
An older (2004) edition is available in the Library, but cannot be checkout out!This Syllabus is amendable by written change or verbal notice of change accessible through the Class Website.
Instructor
Professor Luke Gunderson
Voicemail: (909) 652-7240
“Office” Hours immediately after class or by appointment
Course Description
As it emerged from its hugely destructive civil war in 1865, the United States of America faced a vast array of political, social, and ideological questions. Most of these revolved around the (supposed) destruction of African-American slavery and the type of political unity possible in its wake. This class will discuss these and other major problems in US society since 1876: racism, industrialization’s effects on workers, national economics, political ideologies, and how deeply the US should be involved in the European “balance of power.”
Course content will include major political events of the period, the main intellectual arguments that provoked them, the arts that represented and popularized them, and the military conflicts that decided their outcomes. Course materials will include PowerPoint presentations, comparative timelines, and exposure to various excerpts of music, literature, and paintings of each era under study. Students will also learn two of the most important abilities for further success in collegiate study, time management and organization, through the creation of Study Calendars from which they can allocate study time along with the impact of their various outside, personal, familial, and professional responsibilities. Three major exams and a short research paper will be given to assess student learning.
All of these requirements are designed to facilitate student learning of the major political developments in the United States since 1876. Students completing this course will be informed of the major political, intellectual, and artistic questions that heavily impact their everyday life. Students will learn to recognize the differences between political rhetoric, observed action, and utopian political theory. Open questioning of political motivations and critical thinking will be emphasized.
This is an introductory course designed as a first step in comprehending and the major political, intellectual, and social movements of the past 150 years of U.S. history and culture. It is taught mainly in the professor-based lecture style. Eligibility for Reading 1 or completion of Reading 550 is a pre-requisite.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course (grade C or higher) students will:
1. be able to analyze competing historical interpretations of 19th and 20th century United States history by finding and using sources.
2. appraise the factors that shape history by explaining cause and effect (significance) of historical events in 19th and 20th century United States history.
3. demonstrate the connections between events in 19th and 20th century United States history and how events influence the course of history by explain the chronology and context of historical events.
Advice on Studying History
Most introductory students in history find the subject extremely frustrating because they see much of it as being the memorization of “names, dates, and places.” These students are quickly overwhelmed by the amount of information being given on a daily basis. Names, dates, and places are merely the examples and evidences of larger historical trends and ideas. Make sure you understand these larger ideas BEFORE trying to memorize things at the level of names, dates, and places. In essence, do not lose sight of the forest in the obsession with its trees. This policy will save you much blood, sweat, and tears!
Even at the highest levels, history is taught as the interaction and interrelation of concepts. Experts are always analyzing books and the historical movements they describe in terms of “threads” that are present throughout. Understanding these larger, overarching concepts will GREATLY assist you in learning the importance of smaller names, dates, and places that are the nuts and bolts. If you learn the concepts first, memorization of names, dates, and places will come much easier!
Graded Assignments
All students will be required to take three in-class examinations on the three major portions of the course. The Final Exam will be non-cumulative. These exams will be the primary means of assessing student learning. Learning how to adequately study for and take such hours-long exams will be a fundamental need for the vast majority of students pursuing higher education; the professor will therefore be stringent in examination rules in order to prepare students for their “upper division” future. Students are HIGHLY advised to be present for all three exams; ANY make-ups or other alternative testing dates will ONLY be granted by the professor’s judgment and the concurrence of the Department Chairperson. As a result, there IS NO GUARANTEE that such make-ups will be permitted. Please plan accordingly.
As a major factor in lower division collegiate education is the learned ability to write effectively, all students are required to submit a mini-research paper approximately 5 pages in length. Students will work on this project throughout the semester, with separate due dates for deciding on a topic, submitting sources, creating an outline, and submitting a Rough Draft. Students will work on their rough drafts by completing Essay Formatting Assignments through the course website and participating in a Rough Draft Peer Review. Students may submit as many drafts as necessary to the professor.
Students are also required to submit their response to TWO reading assignments. These Reading Responses should address the following questions:
1. What questions/criticisms does the writer raise?
2. What do YOU think is most important or effective about the reading?
3. What impact did the reading have on general society? Why is it important to discuss?
4. Do similar problems persist today? How or why?
Response length can range from two to three pages. See the Course Schedule for due dates of each response. The grade is based on a total of ten points for each of the questions above and the ability to use quotes to PROVE ideas.
Students are also required to submit thoughts on lectures. These Lecture Critiques can focus on student questions regarding lectures or what worked (or did not work) in the lecture to help their understanding of the topic. Critique length can range from two short (but complete) sentences to a paragraph, but not beyond 100 words. Critiques will be graded on a Credit or No Credit basis; students must receive Credit for 20 critiques throughout the semester to receive the full 2% for the course grade. As 24 lectures are planned for the semester, students may miss up to 4 critiques and still receive full credit.
Because a major factor in collegiate success is the ability to manage time effectively, students in this class are assigned Study Calendars in an effort to teach and assess student organization. Students will create these calendars and turn in one copy to the professor on the designated date. These calendars should not only contain due dates of all assignments for all classes taken this semester, but also any important personal or professional dates that may impact study time.
Students are asked to compile a list of instances which they see US patriotism being used as an advertising tool. This is intended to show students how much the ideas of “good and evil” permeate American culture.
Three “Map Quizzes” will be given throughout the semester. These quizzes are designed so that students will learn important places and borders on the US map throughout the era under study.
Any assignment turned in or taken after the due date or testing date will be punished by a 10% point reduction for every class session it is received late. Any assignment turned in via e-mail after class begins on the due date will be regarded as late and therefore face the 10% point reduction. If you need to miss a test date, inform the professor AHEAD OF TIME to avoid this reduction.
Extra Credit will be offered at the end of the semester ONLY to students that have turned in ALL other assignments.
Grading Scale
Exam 1: Consolidation of the “Republican Empire” (1876-1914): 150 Points = 15%
Exam 2:The United States Eclipses Europe (1914-1945): 150 Points = 15%
Final Exam:The United States as World Hegemon (1945-Present): 150 Points = 15%
Term Paper on Topic of Student’s Choice: 200 Points = 20%
Rough Draft Process (topic, website evaluation, sources, and outline due dates)
40 Points (10 points each) = 4%
Essay Formatting Worksheet: 50 Points = 5%
Rough Draft Peer Review: 30 Points = 3%
Reading Response 1: 50 Points = 5%
Reading Response 2: 50 Points = 5%
Lecture Critiques: 20 Points = 2%
Map Quiz 1: 20 Points = 2%
Map Quiz 2: 30 Points = 3%
Map Quiz 3: 30 Points = 3%
Study Calendars: 10 Points = 1%
Patriotism in Advertising List: 10 Points = 1%
Syllabus Quiz: 10 Points = 1%
Total 1,000 Points = 100%
Term Grading Scale:
A = 90-100% (900-1000 points), B = 80-89.9% (800-899 points), C = 70-79.9% (700-799 points), D = 60-69.9% (600-699 points), F = 59.9% and below (599 and less points)
Course Schedule:
M 6-9: Class Introduction, Views of History, The United States in 1865
Reconstruction Ended and Incomplete, 1865-1877
W 6-11: Mass Industrialization in the United States, 1865-1914
Industrial Labor and Marx’s Critique
Syllabus Quiz
Study Calendars Due
M 6-16: Political Machines and the Anti-Corruption Movement, 1871-85
American Exiles: “Indian Wars,” Atlanta Compromise, the New Immigration
Patriotism in Advertising List Due
Map Quiz 1
W 6-18: US politics in the 1890s
US in an Era of European Imperialism
Term Paper Topic Due
M 6-23: The Progressive Era, 1900-14
Exam One: Consolidation of the “Republican Empire”
Reading Response 1 Due
W 6-25: Library Visit on Finding Academic Sources (meet in regular classroom)
The United States and Europe’s Great War, 1914-19
M 6-30: Russian Revolution and the American “Red Scare”
US Society in the “Roaring Twenties”
Website Evaluations (from Writing Center) Due
Map Quiz 2
W 7-2: Crash Course in Essay Writing
Europe’s Crisis of Democracy, 1919-32
Essay Formatting Assignment Due
Term Paper Annotated Sources Due
M 7-7:Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-38
Adolf Hitler and World War Two, 1933-45
Term Paper Outline Due
W 7-9:American Society in World War Two, 1939-45
Exam Two: The United States Eclipses Europe
Reading Response 2 Due
TH 7-10: LAST DAY TO DROP FULL-TERM CLASSES!!!
M 7-14: The Cold War, Part One: Military Stalemate in Europe, 1947-61
McCarthyism and Economics in US Society, 1948-60
W 7-16: The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-65
Term Paper Peer Review
M 7-21:The Cold War, Part Two: US Interventions in the “Third World,” 1953-75
The Politics of Protest, 1965-74
Map Quiz 3
W 7-23:The Cold War, Part Three: Nadir and Return of US Power, 1970-88
The Cold War, Part Four: Soviet Hypocrisies and Collapse
Term Paper Final Draft Due (also turn in Rough Draft)
M7-28:The US as World Hegemon and the Rise of Challengers (EU and China)
Rise of Anti-US Terrorism and the War on Terror
W 7-30: Final Exam: The United States as World Hegemon
6:00– 9:20 pm in the same room
Textbook Readings Schedule 2014 (Seventh) edition:
M 6-9: Chapter 16: Reconstruction: 1865-1877 (Pages 449-479)
W 6-11: The “Newness” of the New South (Pages 483-489) and New Industry (Pages
511-522)
M 6-16: The Structure and Style of Politics, The Limits of Government, and Public
Policies and National Elections (Pages 570-583)
Subjugating Native Americans (Pages 543-549), Settling the Race Issue (Pages
494-507), and New Immigrants(Pages 522-530)
W 6-18: The Crisis of the 1890s (Pages 583-595) and The Southern Agrarian Revolt
(Pages 489-492)
Chapter 22: Creating An Empire: 1865-1917 (Pages 629-655)
M 6-23: Chapter 21: The Progressive Era: 1900-1917 (Pages 597-627)
W 6-25: Waging Neutrality, Waging War in America, and Waging War and Peace
Abroad (Pages 657-677)
M 6-30: Waging Peace at Home (Pages 679-683)
The Economy That Roared (Pages 688-692), The Business of Government
(Pages 692-694), and Mass Culture in the Jazz Age (Pages 699-702)
W 7-2: Culture Wars(page 702)and Herbert Hoover and the New Era (Pages 707-711)
M 7-7: Chapter 25: The Great Depression and the New Deal: 1929-1939 (Pages 713-
745)
The Dilemma of Neutrality (Pages749-755), Holding the Line (Pages 755-
759), and War and Peace (Pages 770-779)
W 7-9: Mobilizing for Victoryand The Home Front(Pages 759-770)
M 7-14: Confronting the Soviet Union (Pages 793-798), Cold War and Hot War (Pages
798-804), and Facing Off with the Soviet Union (Pages 822-827)
Launching the Great Boom (Pages 783-788) and The Second Red Scare (Pages
804-809)
W 7-16: Righteousness Like a Mighty Stream: The Struggle for CivilRights (Pages 832-
839)
M 7-21: John F. Kennedy and the Cold War (Pages 827-832) and “Let Us Continue”
(Pages 839-845)
Deeper into Vietnam, New Voices, Cities Under Stress, The Year of the Gun,
1968, and Nixon, Watergate, and the Crisis of the Early 1970s (Pages 849-875)
W 7-23:Jimmy Carter: Idealism and Frustration in the White House (Pages 875-879)
andReagan’s Domestic Revolution(pages 884-896)
The Climax of the ColdWar (Pages 896-903)
M 7-28:The Politics of the Center(Pages 919-927) and Edging into a New Century
(Pages939-942)
The Persian Gulf War (Pages 903-905),Paradoxes of Power (Pages 942-947),
andTurmoil at Home (Pages 947-953)
Textbook Readings Schedule 2004 (Third) edition:
M 6-9: Chapter 16: Reconstruction: 1865-1877 (Pages 498-525)
W 6-11: The Newness of the New South (Pages 531-538) and New Industry (Pages
565-579)
M 6-16: The Structure and Style of Politics, The Limits of Government, and Public
Policies and National Elections (Pages 631-644)
Subjugating Native Americans (Pages 601-610), Settling the Race Issue (Pages
545-556), and New Immigrants (Pages 579-588)
W 6-18: The Crisis of the 1890s (Pages 644-653)
Chapter 22: Creating An Empire: 1865-1917 (Pages 697-719)
M 6-23: Chapter 21: The Progressive Era: 1900-1917 (Pages 661-689)
W 6-25: Waging Neutrality, Waging War in America, and Waging War and Peace
Abroad (Pages 725-742)
M 6-30: Waging Peace at Home (Pages 742-748)
The Economy That Roared (Pages 756-760), The Business of Government
(Pages 760-764), and Mass Culture in the Jazz Age (Pages 767-771)
W 7-2: Culture Wars and A New Era in the World? (Pages 771-778)
M 7-7: Chapter 25: The Great Depression and the New Deal: 1929-1939 (Pages 786-
810)
The Dilemma of Neutrality (Pages 821-828), Holding the Line (Pages 828-
830), and War and Peace (Pages 839-851)
W 7-9: Mobilizing for Victory (Pages 830-839)
M 7-14: Confronting the Soviet Union (Pages 865-868), Cold War and Hot War (Pages
868-875), and Facing Off with the Soviet Union (Pages 894-899)
Launching the Great Boom (Pages 856-862) and The Second Red Scare (Pages
875-880)
W 7-16: Righteousness Like a Mighty Stream: The Struggle for CivilRights (Pages 904-
909)
M 7-21: John F. Kennedy and the Cold War (Pages 899-904) and “Let Us Continue”
(Pages 909-914)
The End of Consensus, Cities Under Stress, The Year of the Gun, 1968, and
Nixon and Watergate (Pages 920-946)
W 7-23:Jimmy Carter: Idealism and Frustration in the White House (Pages 946-950)
and Reagan’s Domestic Revolution (Pages 957-968)
The Second (Short) ColdWar (Pages 968-971), Embracing Perestroika (Page
971) and Crisis andDemocracy in Eastern Europe (Pages 971-974)
M 7-28:The Politics of the Center (Pages 992-1000) and A New Economy? (Pages
1000-1007)
Edging into a New Century and Paradoxes of Power (Pages 1013-1021)
Course Policies
ChaffeyCollege does not permit eating, drinking (other than water), or smoking inside any classroom. This includes gum, chewing tobacco, and other such sloppiness!
The instructor will take roll at every session in the first few weeks of class. Students missing sessions in the first two weeks of the course must inform the instructor; any unannounced absences during this time may result in the student being dropped in order to create room on the roster for potential students on the registration “wait-list.” Students are expected to attend all class sessions, and are responsible for all information given in each session whether they attended that day or not. Students are responsible for dropping the class. Never assume that you were dropped by the instructor or by the registrar until you have obtained written evidence! Poor assumptions can lead to dramatic consequences on your academic transcript!
Your professor is no fan of having cellular phones in the classroom. However, as this is a community college, he accepts the fact that many people must be on call for professional reasons. If this is the case, a student may keep their cell phone on as long as it is set to silent, vibrate, or a similarly non-disruptive task. The student may leave the room quietly and courteously if they receive a call. This policy is subject to amendment by the instructor if cell phones become a consistent disruption to classroom activities, with the professor deciding what is to be defined as a “consistent disruption.”
However, cell phones and ALL other electronic devices are not permitted to be on and/or functioning while the class is taking a test or quiz. Any type of communication amongst students is strictly forbidden at these times, so any type of communication will be immediately regarded as the pursuit of cheating and will be severely punished. ChaffeyCollege considers plagiarism to be “academic dishonesty.” The professor MUST report any instance of suspected plagiarism, exam cheating, or other types of academic dishonesty to the Department Chairperson. See the ChaffeyCollege policy on Academic Dishonesty for more information.
Again, Students are HIGHLY advised to be present for all three exams; ANY make-ups or other alternative testing dates will ONLY be granted by the professor’s judgment and the concurrence of the Department Coordinator. As a result, there IS NO GUARANTEE that such make-ups will be permitted. Please plan accordingly.
Also because this is a community college, the instructor understands that some students may be a few minutes late to class. Since he cannot delay the start of class, the professor humbly requests that those on time kindly move to the front of the room in order to allow a few rows in the back to permit late students to enter quietly and without disruption.
ChaffeyCollege rules prohibit students from bringing young children to class. This is an issue of liability and you can see one of the Deans or the President of the College for more information.