History of the United States: 1861-1980
PattenUniversity at San Quentin
Semester: Spring 2007
Instructors: Rachel Bernard, Daniel Immerwahr, and Ariel Ron
Course Schedule:Mondays and Fridays, 6:30–8:45pm
Objectives and Measurable Learning Outcomes
This course has two main objectives. First and foremost, students will learn about the history of the United States during the period 1861–1980, with particular attention to the themes of political economy, race, empire, gender, and culture. Second, students will be introduced to the discipline of history and to the skill of reading and interpreting primary sources. By the end of the semester, students should have an understanding of all of the above-named themes as they apply to U.S. history over the period in question. Students should also be able to develop interpretations of a wide variety of texts (speeches, songs, court cases, memoirs, novels, etc.) and express their interpretations in writing. They should be able to place these texts within their proper historical context and to make cross-period comparisons as well.
Lectures and Attendance
Each day, class will be divided into two portions: a lecture (6:30–7:45pm) and a discussion section (8:00–8:45pm). Discussion section will not cover any new material but will be an opportunity to explore the reading in greater depth and to draw connections between what was discussed and read in past classes to the current day’s readings and lectures. At the beginning of each lecture, one non-close-B student will present a quick summary for the entire class of the conclusions reached in the previous discussion section.
Attendance at both the lecture and the discussion section (unless you are close B) is required.Each student is allowed one unexcused absence. From that point forward, each absence or early departure that is not excused by one of the instructors will result in a grade drop of 1/3 of a letter grade (i.e., from an “A” to an “A-“, or a “B+” to a “B”).
Students are responsible for catching up on material covered during classes they’ve missed, and for completing all assignments. An explanation of any absence or early departure should be submitted in writing.
Requirements
Reading
The assigned reading will be relatively light for a college class (under 100 pages for most weeks) but students will be expected to read the assigned texts carefully, rereading when necessary. Please come to class having done the reading assignment listed in this syllabus for that day’s lecture (for example, the first chapter of Foner’s Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men ought to be completed for the day of the lecture entitled “Origins of the Civil War”).
Critical Responses – (20% of final grade)
For most reading assignments, students will be required to prepare short critical responses—paragraph-length reactions to specific aspects of the texts. The questions for these critical responses will be assigned in class.
Essays– (40% of final grade)
Students will be required to turn in two short essays, which will be elaborations of reading responses. They will also be expected to revise these essays over the course of the term.
Examinations – (40% of final grade)
There will be one midterm examination and one final examination (see course schedule).
Students are required to include the following information on all assignments and exams: name, CDC#, housing, date, name of course, name of instructor.
Plagiarism/Academic Dishonesty Policy:
Academic dishonesty includes copying someone else’s work, collaborating on work without explicit permission, completing another student’s coursework, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s words or ideas as your own; it is considered stealing. In this course, any incident of academic dishonesty will cause students to fail the assignment and possibly the class.
Grading
The essays, essay revisions, and exams will receive grades according to the following scale.
Letter Grade / Numerical Score / Grade Points / Achievement LevelA
A- / 93-100
90-92 / 4.0
3.7 / Superior
B+
B
B- / 87-89
83-86
80-82 / 3.3
3.0
2.7 / Above Average
C+
C
C- / 77-79
73-76
70-72 / 2.3
2.0
1.7 / Average
D+
D
D-
F / 67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59 / 1.3
1.0
0.7
0.0 / Below
Average
CR
NC / 70-100
0-70 / N/A
N/A / Passing
Not Passing
The weekly critical responses will be given a grade of plus, check, or minus.
Course Schedule
1. Course Introduction: Settlement and the Constitution
2. The Origins of Civil War
Reading: Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men (1970), chapter 1
3. The Civil War in Experience, Memory, and History
Reading:The Civil War Letters of the Evans Family of Brown County, Ohio (1863-4), excerpts
4. The Politics of Reconstruction
Reading:Final Report of the American Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission to the Secretary of War (1864),
preface and chapter 3
Reading: Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery(1900), chapter 2
5. The Incorporation of America
Reading: Andrew Carnegie,“How I Served My Apprenticeship” (1896) and “The Gospel of Wealth”
(1889)
Reading: The 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue, excerpts
6. The Laggard South
Reading: Scopes v. State of Tennessee (1925), excerpts
Reading: H. L. Mencken “Homo Neanderthalensis” (1925) and “Bryan” (1925)
7. The Culture of Modernity
Reading: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (1888), first half
8. Populism and Socialism
Reading: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (1888), second half
9. Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey
Reading: Booker T. Washington, Speech at the Atlanta Exposition (1895)
Reading: W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), chapters 1 and 3
10. Progressivism, Immigration, and Suffrage
Reading: Jane Addams, “The Subjective Necessity of Settlements” (1892)
Reading: Anzia Yezierska, The Free Vacation House (1920), excerpt
11. The New Empire
Reading: Josiah Strong, Our Country (1885), table of contents and chapters 1 and 13
Reading: William JenningsBryan, Cincinnati Speech (1899)
Reading: Charles A. Conant, The United States in the Orient (1900), excerpts
12. Review Session
13. Midterm
14. The 1920s and the Crash
Reading: Calvin Coolidge, Address before the New York Chamber of Commerce (1925)
15. Depression and the New Deal
Reading: FranklinDelanoRoosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address (1932)
16. The Great Migration to the 1940s
Reading: Carter G. Woodson, A Century of Negro Migration (1918), excerpt
Reading: Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma (1944), introduction
Reading: Richard Wright, American Hunger (1944), excerpt
Reading: Langston Hughes, “One-Way Ticket” (1947)
17. WWII as Total War
Reading: Joseph Heller, Catch-22(1961), excerpts
18. Suburbs, Cities, and Consumer Culture
Reading: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963), chapters 1 and 9
19. Sun Belt and Rust Belt
Reading: Carl Barks, “Tralla La” (1954), “The Seven Cities of Cibola” (1954), and“The Lost Crown of
Genghis Khan” (1956)
20. The Cold War
Reading:Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, How to Read Donald Duck (1971), chapters 3–4
21. Civil Rights and Affirmative Action
Reading: Selections from “Takin’ It to The Streets”: A Sixties Reader, ed. Alexander Bloom and Wini
Breines (2003), pages 21–29, 108–128
22. Vietnam
Reading: Noam Chomsky, “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” (1967)
Reading: Selections from “Takin’ It to The Streets”, pages 155–167
23. Neoliberalism
Reading: William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984), first half
24. Postmodern Culture
Reading: William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984), second half
Reading: Lyrics to The Fatback Band, “Is This The Future?” (1983)
25. Review Session
26. Final