SYLLABUS
HISTORY 2685.001
The Emergence of Modern America
Fall 2012
I. Purpose of Course
To acquaint you with the major events, individuals, and long-term trends in American history so that you will understand how the United States developed and evolved since the end of the Civil War.
II. Readings
A. Textbook: The textbook, America: A Narrative History(brief edition), vol. 2, by Tindall and Shi, is available in the University Store, or, for half the price, it is available on-line. Read the textbook to keep up with the material covered in class.
- AssignedReadings:Lowe, American Legacies, vol. 2
Story, A More Perfect Union, vol. 2
Both are available in the University Store. Readings will be assigned for each exam period.
III. Examinations and Papers
Three one-hour examinations (September 27, October 25, November 20), each worth 20 percent of the course grade. One two-hour final examination (30 percent) on Tuesday, December 11,8:00 AM), that covers the entire course. Questions on all exams will be of three types: multiple choice, blanks, and short essays. Questions will be drawn from class lectures and discussions, outside reading assignments, and the textbook. Grading system:
90 - 100 = A
80 - 89 = B
70 - 79 = C
60 - 69 = D
0 - 59 = F
In addition, one ten-page paper, summarizing a book on the attached list and analyzing professional reviews of the book, is due no later than December 6. The paper is worth 10 percent of the course grade. I will provide specific instructions on the paper early in the semester.
IV. Office hours
Tues. and Thurs.., 9:30-10:30 AM, or by appointment, in Wooten Hall, room 244
E-mail:
V. Makeup Examinations
Makeup examinations for the three exams administered during the semester will be given only if you have a legitimate reason for missing the regularly scheduled exam. Makeup exams will be given at any time during the dayon Thursday and Friday of the week after the regular exam in the HistoryHelpCenter (Wooten Hall, room 220). Of course, the makeup exam will be different from the regular exam.
VII. Special Accommodations
Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate the special needs of students with disabilities.
R. Lowe
BOOKS FOR REVIEW
HISTORY 2685
Reconstruction
Castel, Albert E. The Presidency of Andrew Johnson (1979)
Cimbala, Paul A. Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865-1870(1997)
Current, Richard N. Those Terrible Carpetbaggers: A Reinterpretation (1988)
Trelease, Allen W. White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction (1971, 1995)
Industrialization, Urbanization, and Immigration
Avrich, Paul. The Haymarket Tragedy (1984)
Bain, David Howard. Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad (1999)
Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1998)
Isenberg, Andrew C. The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750-1920 (2000)
Kessler-Harris, Alice. Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States(1982).
Krause, Paul. The Battle for Homestead, 1880-1892 (1992).
Livesay, Harold C. Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business(1975 and later)
Welch, James,and Paul Stekler. Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians(1994)
Expansion and Imperialism
Freidel, Frank B. The Splendid Little War (1958)
Gould, Lewis L. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (1992)
McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 (1977)
Pierce, John R., and James V. Writer. Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets (2005)
Preston, Diana. The Boxer Rebellion (2001)
Urban Reform and the Progressive Movement
Brady, Kathleen. Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker (1989)
Brands, H. W. Woodrow Wilson (2003)
Dalton, Kathleen. Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (2002)
Griffith, Elizabeth. In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1985)
Von Drehle, David. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (2003)
World War I
Andelman, David. A Shattered Peace (2007)
Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (2004)
Coffman, Edward M. The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I (1968)
Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1980)
Murray, Robert K. Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-1920 (1955)
Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August (1962 and later)
The Roaring Twenties
Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America(1996)
Ferrell, Robert H. The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998)
MacLean, Nancy. Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan (1994)
The Depression and the New Deal
Fausold, Martin L. The Presidency of Herbert Hoover (1985)
Conkin, Paul F. The New Deal (1992)
Shlaes, Amity. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (2007)
Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s (1979)
World War II
Atkinson, Rick. An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 (2002)
D’Este, Carlo. Patton: A Genius for War (1996)
Prange, Gordon W., Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon. Miracle at Midway (1983)
Ryan, Cornelius. The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 (1959)
Sledge, E. B. With the Old Breed, at Peleliu and Okinawa (1981)
Toland, John. Battle: The Story of the Bulge (1959)
The Cold War
Hastings, Max. The Korean War (1987)
Haydock, MichaelD.City Under Siege: The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948-49(1999)
McCoy, Donald R. The Presidency of Harry S. Truman (1984)
Vietnam and Watergate
Berman, Larry. Planning a Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Vietnam (1982)
Oberdorfer, Don. Tet!: The Turning Point in the Vietnam War (2001)
Olson, Keith W. Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America (2003)
Small, Melvin. The Presidency of Richard Nixon (1999)