THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 17C Spring 2016

Professor Margaret Stevens

(408) 864-8524/ F21u

OVERVIEW OF COURSE

History 17C spans a period of approximately 100 years, during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, years that were extremely crucial for the development of our rights and ideals and for an understanding of our American past. In this class we will focus on the people, the laws, events and politics that shaped this nation. Many diverse ethnic and racial groups have contributed to the building of our American nation; we will include them in our study. Much of America’s past is riddled with sexism, racism and prejudice. These people and their struggle for genuine equality is one of the dominant themes of the history of the 20th and 21stcenturies, which we will focus on in this class. This period of history is also dominated by two world wars and three other wars, two of containment from the Cold War era.

At its foundation, our nation was dedicated to the ideals of equality and freedom; these approximate 100 years can be seen as the period in our history in which these idealsdeveloped for all peoples, to form and be realized but not without great struggles. We will start with Progressivism in the early twentieth century, continue with World War I, the battle for women’s suffrage, the New Era, and the Great Depression, the resulting human disaster and despair, FDR’s New Deal, World War II, Truman and the Bipolar world (Cold War), the Multitude of Movements, beginning with the Civil Rights movement, two wars of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, the Nixon and Regan Administrations.

OBJECTIVES OF COURSE and SLOs

Students will learn crucial facts and details, be able to understand reasoned analysis of historical documents, both primary and secondary. Focus will be on events, the constitution, readings, lectures, videos, primary readings all which are crucial for a critical analysis of American History. Students will gain a factual and broad analytical understanding of the 20th century and its place in American history. Grades will be based on this understanding.

GRADING POLICY

The final course grade will be based on an accumulation of approximately 400-450 points:

1) Midterm Essay & Objective =`100 points.

2) Final exam Essay & Objective =150 points.

4) Assignments totals are approximate 50 pts each=100-150 points

5) Attendance & participation = 50 points

As I do not grade on a curve, grade distributions will be as follows:

A+ =100-98% B+ =89-88%C+ = 79-78%D = 67-63%

A = 97-93% B = 87-83%C = 77-70%D- = 62-60%

A- = 92-90%B- =82-80%D+ = 69-68% F = 59% & below

EXAMS

Mid-term and Final Exams, Please bring a SMALL blue (green) book for essay and Scantron for Objective or short Identification and significance questions. Typical: short answers for mid-term with longer essay for final exam.

Mid-term 6th week of quarter. See schedule for dates. There is no make-up of examinations unless you speak to me before the exam. Please leave me a message.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Some assignments will be take-home and others will be in-class only as a group. Some assignments will not be announced in advance so you must be in class to participate in assignments. There will be no make-ups of missed assignments; if you are not here you will lose the points. Assignments will be based on discussions we have, the Reader, or videos. I do not accept e-mailed assignments. Any assignment that receives a D & F may be turned back in for higher credit and MUST have original assignment attached. Due no later than following week. I do not accept late assignments so please plan according to schedule or announced dates. Lowest assignment will be dropped.Assignments will be made in class.

ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION

Attendance is required in this class, students are expected to attend most class meetings, please be on time as well. There is a five minute late grace period.Points will be awarded for participating in discussion and asking questions during lectures. Exams will also focus on what I lecture on so attendance is crucial for this class. Four absences are allowed.

CLASSROOM POLICIES

I reserve the right to drop any student, especially those who have been absent more than four times, but it is the student's responsibility to drop by deadline (May 27th), students must complete all major assignments such as exams to receive a passing grade. Students will get an F in the course for cheating and any assignment where cheating (including plagiarism) has occurred will earn the student a Ø (zero) grade, which cannot be made up. Students will be expected to follow De Anza College’s official policy of academic integrity (no cheating or plagiarism).

Please, do not bring food into the classroom. Electronic devices, like pagersor cell-phones, are to be turned OFF while in this class, unless you have permission from me.Any student who is disruptive of the learning environment in this class will be dropped and if it is after the drop deadline (Nov14th) will receive an F. Students will be expected to follow De Anza College’s official policy of mutual respect.

EXPECTATIONS

Often teachers have certain expectations for their students to do well in their classes. For example, doing ALL work assigned will help facilitate a top grade in this class. Listen attentively to lectures and be prepared to answer or ask questions, this is crucial for this class and for a higher grade. Please complete all assigned readings before class.

What can you expect from me? I will always try to be as clear as possible about assignments and my expectations for exam answers. I do, however, appreciate feedback and look forward to questions from you.

OFFICE HOURS

My office is in F21u and office hours are Mon- Wed 12:30-1:20 or by appointment. Phone # is 408-864-8524, please leave a message if I am not in my office. I cannot return your call if area code is outside of bay area. E-mail address is .

REQUIRED TEXTS

1) Roark et all, UnderstandingThe American Promise,2nd Edition Volume II, since 1865, Bedford/St. Martins.

#2) loose leaf version or ISBN #1457686929.

2) You will be using Learning Curve located on Launch Pad for Extra Credit Assignments. Access is at bedfordstmartins.com/roarkunderstanding. More details via email. Make sure you have correct e-mail address with De Anza. I will be sending out sign up information. 30 points extra credit available.

3) Margaret Stevens, Study Guide and Notes 17Cis at Please down load and bring to class. Take notes and read on a daily basis. I will lecture on this material. Most of exam material comes from Study guide and notes outlines.

4) Complete syllabus on-line at Please download and bring to class; among other information, assignment details and exam details in complete syllabus only.

I will often lecture in more depth than the text covers and some of the time will not cover all items in the notes sections. In addition, I will cover material not included in the text.

THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 17C

Schedule of Readings

Please be sure to complete all assigned readings before start of week, will help with discussion.

Week 1

MondayApr. 4- Thursday Apr 7

1) Understanding the American Promise, (listed as text from now on) Ch 21 Progressivism from the Grass Roots Up” pp.610-643.

Week 2

Monday APR 11-ThursdayAPR. 14

1) TEXT, Ch 21 & Ch 22, “The United States and World War I” pp. 644-675.

Week 3

Monday APR. 18 Thursday APR. 21

1) TEXT, Ch. 22 & Ch 23, “From New Era to Great Depression,” pp. 676-709.

Week 4

Monday APR. 25 Thursday APR 28

1) TEXT, Ch 24, “Forging theNew Deal Experiment,” pp 710-741.

Week 5

Monday May 2-Thursday May 5

1) TEXT, Ch. 24 & 25 “The United States and the Second World War,” pp. 742-776.

Week 6

Monday May 9 Thursday May 12

1) TEXT, Ch. 25, “The U.S And the Second World War and Ch 26 “Cold War Politics in the Truman Years,” pp. 778-803.

Mid-Term Exam May 12

Week 7

Monday May 16 ThursdayMay. 19

1) TEXT, Ch. 26 & 27, “The Politics and Culture of Abundance,” pp. 804-833.

Week 8

Monday May 23-Thursday May 26

1) TEXT, Ch. 27 & 28, “Reform, Rebellion, and Reaction,” pp. 834-867.

Week 9

Monday May 30 Thursday June 2

1) TEXT, Ch. 28 & 29, “Vietnam and the End of Cold War Consensus” pp. 794-818.

Holiday Monday May 30

Weeks 10

Monday June 6 –Thursday June 9

1) TEXT, Ch. 29, “Vietnam and the End of the Cold War Consensus” pp.868-895.

Week 11

Monday June 13- Monday June 16

3) TEXT, Ch. 30, “The Conservative Turn,” pp.896-927.

Week 12

9:30 Final Exam

Monday March 20

11:30-1:30

Holiday Monday May 30th

Friday, Apr. 29: Last day to request pass/no pass grade

Friday, May 27: Last day to drop with a "W."

Mid-Tem Exam May 12th