American History 1865 – Present
History 104 - Spring 2012
Tuesday: 10:50am – 12:05pm
Friday: 10:50am – 12:05pm
Room: PH 108
Professor Peter Vellon
Office Hours: Friday 12:15 – 1:15pm; and by appointment
Powdermaker 352Q; Tel: (718) 997-5299
This course will examine American history from Reconstruction through the American war in Vietnam. Major events are explored, such as, but not relegated to, the rise of industrial capitalism, immigration, World War I & II, and the Civil Rights Movement. Specific content goals of the course include political, economic, and social developments in the United States from 1865 through the early 1970s. In addition, the course will examine the impact of race, class, and gender and how these social constructs have shaped, and continue to shape, American society. General learning goals of the course will include improving student’s analytical skills, enhancing student’s understanding of historical interpretations and documents, and improving writing skills. Students will meet these goals through discussion and debate of required readings, essay examinations, writing assignments such as journals, critical book reviews, and research papers, and through critical analysis of primary sources. Primary source exercises, in particular, are utilized to foster critical thinking skills and further understanding of how historians construct and support arguments.
This course meets three GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS. It meets the ANALYZING SOCIAL STRUCTURES Area of Knowledge requirement because it explores the rise of political, economic, social, and governmental institutions. Because it focuses on the United States and its political, racial, cultural, ideological, economic, and social evolution, it fulfills the UNITED STATES Context of Experience requirement.
NOTE to STUDENTS: Although you are free to e-mail me on my Queens College account with course related information or questions, please understand that I may not respond for many days, if at all. Therefore, e-mail is not a preferred method of communication. Rather, if you have questions or need information related to the course, please see me during designated office hours. If that time is not convenient for you we can try to arrange another mutually convenient time. If you cannot attend class and need to let me know, feel free to leave a message on my QC voicemail. Also, if you cannot attend a particular class meeting I urge you to make a friend who can provide you with lecture notes. I will not meet with you to discuss what we did in a class in which you were absent.
Please be advised that this syllabus is subject to change in minor ways. It is very possible a reading can be added, or deleted, at certain points in the semester. I will give you advance notice to any possible changes to the schedule.
Required Readings:
[1] Making America: A History of the United States, Volume II Since 1865, Berkin, Miller, Cherny & Gormly, (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York).
Please see course schedule for additional assigned readings. These readings will be available on the course website: http://history104spring2012.qwriting.org
[2] Eportfolio class website:
This site will serve as our official meeting place. You will use this website to post blog responses, as well as find materials relevant to the course, such as syllabi, links to primary source material, writing aids, etc., etc.
I will also place additional assigned readings (see course schedule), as well as specific assignments, on this website. If you do not have an account set up, you must do so immediately. We will discuss content specifics in class.
Students need to go to http://qwriting.org/ and sign up w/ a QC email address and then active their account. Once your account is activated you can login and go to the website: http://history104spring2012.qwriting.org. Once there you should click the "ADD ME" button and this should allow you to post blogs, as well as comment on other posts.
Course Requirements:
[1] Midterm exam: March 23rd
The Midterm Exam is an essay exam that will derive primarily from class lectures, films, readings, etc. Basically whatever we cover in class, plus your readings, is fair game. [20% of final grade]
[2] Final Exam: (To be determined)
Non-cumulative essay exam. [20% of final grade]
[3] Critical Book Review & Research Paper:
This assignment is divided into several parts. First you will choose an area of interest to research and present your choice, or Paper Topic, to me on February 7th. I encourage you to hand in a Paper Topic so I can offer feedback and suggestions, as well as make sure it is an appropriate topic (appropriate in the sense that it conforms to the purview of the class, not my own interests). However, I will only award 2 points to Paper Topics that are submitted on time, submitted in class, and typed. Failure to do so will result in a loss of 2% of your final grade. After my approval you will begin to compile a Preliminary Bibliography of secondary sources pertaining to this topic area which will also be handed in and graded. A successful bibliography will earn you 3% of your final grade. This assignment is due February 24th. All this really requires on your part is taking the assignment seriously and investing some time to research.
From this Preliminary Bibliography you will choose one book and write a Critical Book Review (CBR). This choice is due by March 9th. The CBR should be 4-6 pages, is due on April 27th, and is worth 20% of your final grade. I will discuss the details in class.
While you are reading the CBR selection, you should continue to think about your wider Research Paper. This will include compiling secondary and primary sources, narrowing your topic, and formulating an argument towards completing the research paper. The research paper will be 7-10 pages, is due on May 15th, and worth 20% of your final grade. You will have to consult at least 5 secondary sources, and three primary sources for this assignment. We will discuss all of this in detail during assigned class hours.
[4] Class participation: 15 %
A primary aspect of your class participation grade will be online responses to 10 questions I pose throughout the semester around a particular assigned reading topic. On a given week outlined in the syllabus I will POST a question to the website by Tuesday evening. Students will click the “Comment” link to post their response to the question. Student responses must be up by 7:00pm, the Thursday before class, to receive credit. These blog posts are intended to elicit your thoughts or opinions on a topic. They are not intended to serve as “formal” writing assignments (such as a research paper), but rather as opinion driven, thought essays. For example, it’s possible that I may ask your opinions on a given historical topic and its relationship to contemporary events, your reaction to a newspaper article or TV show, etc. etc. We will discuss this more in class, but hopefully you get the picture. Participation, effort, and timeliness, is critical to earning the full 10% toward your final grade.
In addition to blogging, well-prepared students who participate in class discussions, listen attentively, attend class regularly, avoid abusive lateness, and resist the urge to text message, doze off, or engage in other unproductive activities, can earn up to 5% of their final grade on “class participation.”
A Note on Late Papers: Each day an assignment is late your grade will decrease by one point. For example, if your paper is 7 days late [one week], 7 points will be deducted from your grade before I read the paper. That could be the difference between an A and a B, or worse, a C and a D. Hopefully you get the picture. Also, plagiarism is not tolerated in this class. Anyone caught plagiarizing a paper will fail the course.
Week 1
1/27: Introduction to Course
Week 2
1/31: The Period of Reconstruction
Read: Ch. 16 - Reconstruction: High Hopes and Broken Dreams,1865-1877
2/3: Radical Republicans and Reconstruction
Week 3
2/7: African Americans, Civil Rights, and Segregation
***Paper Topic Due***
Online question # 1
2/10 An Industrial Order Emerges
Read: Ch.17 – Survival of the Fittest: Entrepreneurs and Workers in Industrial America, 1865-1900
Week 4
2/14: Class Meeting in Library, Room 101A
Online question # 2
2/17: Railroads and the Consolidation of Capital
Week 5
2/21: Monday Schedule -- NO CLASS
2/24: The battle between Labor and Capital
Read: Ch. 18 – Conflict and Change in the West,1865-1902
***Preliminary Bibliography Due***
Week 6
2/28: Labor’s Response
Online question # 3
3/2: The “new” Immigrants and America
Read: Ch. 19 – The New Social Patterns of Gilded Age America,1865-1900
Ch.20 – Political Stalemate and Political Upheaval,1868-1900
Week 7
3/6: The “new” Immigrants and America
Read: Ch. 19 – The New Social Patterns of Gilded Age America,1865-1900
Ch.20 – Political Stalemate and Political Upheaval,1868-1900
Online question # 4
3/9: Italian and Jewish Immigrants, Race, and Americanism
Read: Ch. 22 – The Progressive Era, 1900-1917
***Choose Book for Critical Book Review***
Week 8
3/13: The Outbreak of War in Europe
Read: Ch.21 – Becoming a World Power: American and World Affairs,1865-1913
Online question # 5
3/16: WW I and the Mobilization of the Home-front
“Americanization,” Repression, and the “Red Scare”
Read: Ch.23 – America and the World, 1913-1920
Week 9
3/20: “Americanization” and the “Red Scare,” cont’d.
Midterm Review
3/23: MIDTERM
Week 10
3/27: The 1920s, Hoover, and the Great Depression
Read: Ch. 24 – The 1920s, 1920-1928
Online question # 6
3/30: The 1920s, Hoover, and the Great Depression
Read: Ch. 25 – From Good Times to Hard Times,1920-1932
Week 11
4/3: The 1920s, Hoover, and the Great Depression
4/6 NO CLASS
Week 12
4/10 NO CLASS
4/13 NO CLASS
Week 13
4/17: FDR’s New Deal
Read: Ch. 26 – The New Deal, 1933-1940
Online question # 7
4/20: FDR’s New Deal, cont’d.
The Impact of New Deal policy on the United States
Read: Ch. 27 – America’s Rise to World Leadership, 1933-1945
Week 14
4/24: World War II/The Cold War
Read: Ch. 28 – Truman and Cold War America, 1945-1952
Online question # 8
4/27: Vietnam and the Fracturing of a Nation: Why Southeast Asia?
The Misguided Policy of Containment
Read: Patrick Hearden, The Tragedy of Vietnam, Ch. 2& 3, pp. 22-66)
Read: Ch. 29 – Quest for Consensus, 1952-1960
***Critical Book Review Due***
Week 13
5/1: Tonkin Gulf, Limited War, and American Escalation
Read: Ch. 30 – Great Promises, Bitter Disappointments, 1960-1968
Read: Ch. 31 – America Under Stress, 1963-1975
Online question # 9
5/4: The Anti-War Movement, Civil Rights, and the Turbulent 1960s
Read: Terry H. Anderson, The Movement and the Sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee, Ch. 3 “Days of Decision,” pp. 131- 182
Week 15
5/8: The Tet Offensive, the My Lai Massacre, and American Patriotism
Read: Mark H. Lytle, America’s Uncivil Wars: The Sixties Era from Elvis to the Fall of Richard Nixon, Ch. 11, “A Bad Year Gets Worse:The Domestic War Front,” 240 - 265
Online question # 10
5/11: Class, Race, and the American Soldier
Read: Christian Appy, Working Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam, Introduction & Ch. 1 (pp. 1-43)
Read: James Fallows, “What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?” (The Washington Monthly, October 1975)
Week 16
5/15 Legacies of the Vietnam War
***Research Paper Due***