Syllabus – Fall 2024

History 1302-005 (90893)   Non-Synchronous Online Course  

Professor William Britcher

COURSE:  History 1302 (History of the United States from 1877 to the present)

SECTION/SYNONYM:  HIST 1302-005 / 90893

INSTRUCTOR:  Professor William Britcher                                                                                     

CLASS TIME/LOCATION:   Non-Synchronous Online Course, Fall 2024 (12-week)

                                                Course will begin on Sept. 23, 2024 and end on Dec. 15, 2024.

DISTANCE EDUCATION:   This is an online course; you won’t be attending lectures or an orientation.  Students enrolling in Distance Learning courses will need maturity, ability, and self-discipline to successfully complete the requirements.  The student will be required to do the same amount of work and the same quality of work as students enrolling in the in-class sections. 

Distance Learning courses are designed for mature and capable students endowed with a great degree of self-discipline and responsibility.  Keep in mind that the course load is equivalent to a 16-week college course, even if you’ve signed up for the 8-, 12- or 14-week course, so that it may transfer to 4-year schools like Texas, Texas State, A&M, Tech, etc.  It’s doable if you put in the time, effort and thought, but it’s not an easy backdoor route to college credit. 

You’ll create your own notes by reading chapters in conjunction with learning objectives.  Early in the course, put the course deadlines listed in Blackboard into your personal calendar.  Please review the ACC Distance Education General Information available at: review the ACC Distance Education General Information.  Students will use the Blackboard learning management system for assignment instructions and submitting assignments.

COURSE METHODOLOGY: (See “Distance Education,” above.)  Students are expected to read the appropriate textbook chapter and complete the Chapter Quiz/Assignment, and are responsible for all material in PowerPoint presentations – as this material and textbook readings are the source of tests to earn course grades.   Access to textbook readings, PowerPoint presentations, course announcements and grades will be via ACC’s Blackboard (see “Blackboard” below).

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Study of the history of the United States from 1877 to the present (see  www.austincc.edu/history)  Credit Hours: 3.           

TEXT:  H.W. Brands, American Stories, Vol. 2, 4th edition (REVEL edition)

This is an electronic textbook, which you paid for when registering for the course.  It will be available via a link on our course Blackboard page.

OFFICE HOURS:  Virtual Office Hours via Zoom by appointment (schedule via ACC email).

CONTACT INFO:  As an adjunct professor, I have no permanent office, nor office phone. 

ALL contact with me and from me will be conducted only via your and my ACC email.  My ACC email address is william.britcher@austincc.edu  Responses should normally be made within 24 hours.

You should check your ACC email daily, or at least every other day, while enrolled in this course. In addition, course materials and announcements (as well as your grades) will be posted via Blackboard.  You should therefore check the HIST 1302 Blackboard site frequently (every day or at least every other day).

 ACC E-MAIL:      Set it up, check it, and use it.  I will us the ACC e-mail system when I need to contact you.  All official ACC e-mail communications with students will be sent exclusively via ACC e-mail.  These messages include any important information and notifications of emergencies. 

Instructions for activating your ACC email account may be found at http://www.austincc.edu/help/accmail/questions-and-answers

BLACKBOARD:  This course uses Blackboard.  To access Blackboard, you must have an ACCeID:  https://acceid.austincc.edu/idm/user/login.jsp

                              You MUST access Blackboard from the following link:

• http://acconline.austincc.edu 
• After connecting to the website, read:  Student Support

On Blackboard you will find:

• Course Announcements
• Course Syllabus
• Course PowerPoints
• Your Grades on all work (including tests, quizzes and writing assignments) 

COURSE RATIONALE: The Texas legislature requires students to take six hours of American history to graduate from an institution of higher learning in Texas.  This course helps fulfill that requirement.  Students taking History 1302 can expect to improve their reading and writing competencies, critical thinking skills, research skills, etc., all of which help students better succeed in life outside academia. (see www.austincc.edu/history) 

COMMON COURSE OBJECTIVES:  After completing History 1302 the student should be able to:

   1.    Describe how Anglo-American settlement of the west impacted the lives of women, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and African Americans.

   2.    Identify the major industries of the 19th century American West.

  3.    Explain the rise of the major industries in the 19th century United States.

  4.    Describe the effects of 19th century industrialization on labor unions, women and minorities.

  5.    Describe the social effects of urbanization on the 19th century United States.

  6.    Explain the major events of Gilded Age politics.

  7.    Describe the rise of the American overseas empire by 1900.

  8.    Identify the main political, social, intellectual and economic effects of Progressivism on American society.

  9.    Compare and contrast the “Square Deal,” the “New Nationalism” and the “New Freedom” programs.

10.    Explain the background of and U.S. participation in World War I.

11.    Describe how World War I transformed the roles of women, African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

12.    Explain how the 1920s changed American society politically, socially and economically.

13.    Identify the major writers of the 1920s.

14.    Describe the causes of and results of the Great Depression.

15.    Identify the changes in American politics and society brought about by the New Deal.

16.    Explain the effects of American foreign policy in the 1920s and 1930s and the coming of World War II.

17.    Describe the social, economic and political effects of World War II on American society.

18.    Evaluate the major causes and effects of the Cold War on America from 1945 to 1960.

19.    Describe the key events of the 1950s and their effects on American society with special emphasis on McCarthy and civil rights.

20.    Compare and contrast the “New Frontier” and “Great Society” programs.

21.    Examine the American involvement in Vietnam and the effect of that war on American society.

22.    Describe the Republican Resurgence and the effects of Watergate.

23.    Evaluate the effects of the 1980s on American society.

COMPETENCIES: Students will need good reading, writing and study skills to succeed in this course.  Students will be expected to read about 500 pages of textbook information (American Stories).  Additionally, students wishing to earn an “A” or “B” grade must do a Book Review on one additional book from the approved list.  Students will be expected to observe decent English grammar and spelling rules.  Although students will be told when exams/tests will take place and be given detailed learning objectives to facilitate study, students will be expected to study information in detail to prepare for the exams.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: The free exchange of information is vital to the pursuit of learning.  When coming to class, bring an open mind; listen to the instructor and, especially, to your classmates.

ATTENDANCE/CLASS PARTICIPATION: This course is asynchronous.  Regular and timely completion of work is expected of all students (see Fall 2024 Course Schedule/Deadlines on our Blackboard site).  If attendance or compliance with other course policies is unsatisfactory, the instructor may withdraw students from the class. 

The student is responsible for communicating with their professor during school closures and completing any assignments or other activities designated by their professor. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/GRADING:

1.   The material in American Stories is to be read and studied according to the course schedule so that you may be prepared for quizzes and exams/tests.

2.   The quality and quantity of the work done by the student determines that student’s final grade.  Your course grade point average will be calculated based on your scores on the four Unit Exams (90% of your grade), and the grade average earned on Chapter Assignments/Quizzes administered throughout the course (10% of your grade). 

                     Grade average 90 – 100 = “A” grade*

                     Grade average 80 – 89   = “B” grade*

                     Grade average 70 – 79   = “C” grade

                     Grade average 69 and below  = “F” grade

*Please note, however, that an Analytical Book Review is also required to earn “A” and “B” grades, as noted below (see page 5).

UNIT EXAMS: There will be four unit exams. If a student misses the unit exam in class for good cause - as determined by the instructor - they may then take the unit exam at an arranged time with no restrictions on the grade. 

The unit exams consist of multiple-choice and short essay questions covering the textbook material and classroom exposition as highlighted by the learning objectives issued for each chapter.  Since the location of significant historical acts often plays a key role in history, these tests will include some questions on geography/location.

There is no comprehensive final exam in this course.
 

QUIZZES/SHARED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: I have found periodic testing “as we go” to be a valuable assessment tool for both students and the instructor.  Quizzes help students gauge progress, while also providing a sense of the events/concepts that are most significant (and are therefore likely to be covered in upcoming unit exams).  Quiz results also help the instructor determine any areas that might require additional coverage/instruction.

Shared Writing are short in-course writing assignments that require you to demonstrate that you can process information and “tell others what you think” about an event or subject.  Since there is virtually no such thing as a well-paying job that doesn’t require being able to process information analytically, this skill will translate into your chosen future career.  These analytical paragraphs will help you prepare for the unit exams.

Together, your scores on Assignments/Quizzes will make up a fifth component of your grade – the four Unit Exams constituting components one through four. Your final grade average will be based on these five grades, and satisfactory completion of an analytical book review (as noted above under COURSE REQUIREMENTS).

Final Course Grade:

• For the grade of “A”, the student must complete all four unit exams with an overall Exam/Quiz average of 90 or above AND write one analytical book review (which must be graded "EXCELLENT").
• For the grade of “B”, the student must complete all four unit exams with an overall Exam/Quiz average of 80 or above AND write one analytical book review (which must be graded at least "ACCEPTABLE").
• For the grade of “C”, the student must complete all four unit exams with an overall Exam/Quiz average of 70 or above.
• For the grade of “F”, the student who fails to take all four unit exams or who fails to maintain an overall Exam/Quiz average of 70 or who commits any act of scholastic dishonesty will earn the grade of "F".
• For the grade of “I”, the student must have a medical excuse certified by a physician. All “Incompletes” must be completed within the first four weeks of the following semester.  There are no exceptions to this policy.

EXTRA CREDIT:  ACC’s History Department, by policy, does not allow extra credit.  My advice to you is simple – do your best work the first time!

TESTING POLICIES: Exams for this online course will be taken using Respondus Lockdown Browser/Respondus Monitor, which requires a webcam.  If you cannot agree to take exams online with video proctoring, you will have to withdraw from this class, as alternative testing is not available.

ANALYTICAL BOOK REVIEWS:

Rationale: This analytical book review will critically examine an important scholarly book covering some aspect of United States History from 1877 to the present.

The purpose of this review is twofold: first, to acquaint the student with a classic volume of historical scholarship and second, to allow the student to think critically about an important facet of American history and then to organize your thoughts in clear, cogent prose.  You should not view this simply as a hurdle which you must overcome in order to earn a grade of “A” or “B” in this course, but rather approach it as an opportunity to expand your creativity in thinking and writing, two very important aspects of any individual's necessary life skills.  Therefore, be advised that I consider this a VERY important aspect of this course and your reviews will be read and graded VERY carefully.

Form: Each book review will be approximately 1,500 words long, although this is a general guideline and not an absolute requirement.  The main objective of this analytical book review should be to comprehensively cover the three sections of the following book report outline:

• Part I: This is a brief outline of the contents of the book.  In the space of one or two paragraphs you should be able to convey the parameters of the book's contents.  DO NOT simply reproduce the book's table of contents.
• Part II: Here is the place for a careful summary of the author’s thesis.   The thesis is the primary idea the author is trying to prove and convince the reader to accept.  You must first identify the thesis and then show how the author either substantiates or fails to substantiate this thesis.  This will undoubtedly take you a page or two to do a good job.
• Part III: This is the most important part of your book review.  Here is where you describe your reaction to the book.  Some of the questions you must answer include: Do you agree or disagree with a book's conclusions?  Why?  Did the book support or contradict what you read in your textbook on the same subject? (You MUST quote some of the relevant passages from both books.)

Should responding to these questions still leave you short of 1,500 words, consider answering one or more of the following questions.  Did you detect any biases on the part of the author?  What was the author's background and why did he or she write the book?  How in your opinion could the book have been improved?  You must be specific and keep in mind there are NO perfect books.  Did you enjoy reading the book? Why or why not?  Would you recommend it to others?

Grading of Book Reviews: The book reviews will be graded “EXCELLENT”, “ACCEPTED”, or “NOT ACCEPTED”. Those seeking the grade of “A”, must be achieve a grade of “EXCELLENT”.   Those seeking the grade of "B", must be graded at least “ACCEPTED”.  Any “NOT ACCEPTED” book reports will be returned to the student to be rewritten – unless this grade is as a result of plagiarism!

Due Dates: The analytical book review is due shortly after mid-semester.

Book Review Resources: The following books may be read for the analytical book review. If you wish to substitute another book for one of these, YOU MUST RECEIVE THE INSTRUCTOR'S PRIOR APPROVAL. All of the following books are found on the shelves of Austin Community College’s RGC Library. They are listed in the order they are cataloged on the shelves.

C. Vann Woodward, Reunion and Reaction
Lawrence Goodwyn, The Populist Movement
Matthew Josephson, The Politicos
Homer Socolofsky and Allen Spetter, The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Ben Maddow, A Sunday Between Wars
Sam Acheson, Joe Bailey
Ben Proctor, Not Without Honor
G.J.A. O'Toole, The Spanish War
Graham Cosmas, An Army For Empire
John Offner, An Unwanted War
Frederick Allen, Since Yesterday
David Shannon, Between the Wars
William Leuchtenberg, In the Shadow of FDR
John G. Adams, Without Precedent
Walter Goodman, The Committee
John Gaddis, Strategies of Containment
Seymour Brown, The Faces of Power
Arnold Offner, The Origins of the Second World War
William Manchester, American Caesar
Forrest Pogue, George C. Marshall
E.B. Potter, Bull Halsey
Barry Goldwater, Goldwater
Thomas Kesssner, Fiorello La Guardia
Edward & Frederick Schapsmeier, Dirksen of Illinois
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Times to Remember
David Oshinsky, A Conspiracy So Immense
Anthony Champagne, Congressman Sam Rayburn
John Martin. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois
Dewey Grantham, Hoke Smith & the Politics of the New South
Howard Beale, Theodore Roosevelt
Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Paolo Coletta, The Presidency of William Howard Taft
Elliot Asinoff, 1919
Arthur Link, Woodrow Wilson & the Progressive Era
Robert Murray, The Harding Era
Harris Warren, Hoover & the Great Depression
David Burner, Herbert Hoover
Robert Divine, The Illusion of Neutrality
Robert Herzstein, Roosevelt and Hitler
Joseph Lash, Dealers and Dreamers
Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression
Geoffrey Perrett, Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph
James Burns, Roosevelt, The Lion and the Fox
Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt
Eric Goldman, The Crucial Decade and After
William O'Neill, American High
Stephen Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound
Robert Divine, The Sputnik Challenge
Dwight Eisenhower, At Ease
Stephen Ambrose, The Supreme Commander
_____________, Eisenhower: the President
David Halberstram, The Best & the Brightest
William O’Neill, Coming Apart
Allen Matusow, The Unraveling of America
H. Norman Schwarzkopf, It Doesn’t Take A Hero
Joan & Clay Blair, The Search for JFK
Henry Hurt, Reasonable Doubt
John Barry, The Ambition and the Power
Gary Wills, The Kennedy Imprisonment
Paul Conkin, Big Daddy from the Pedernales
Doris Kearns, Lyndon Johnson & the American Dream
Theodore White, The Making of the President 1964
Lewis Gould, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment
Fawn Brodie, Richard Nixon
Stephen Ambrose, Nixon
Robert Litwak, Detente and the Nixon Doctrine
Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein, The Final Days
Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith
Lou Cannon, Reagan
Ronnie Dugger, On Reagan

LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW: You must withdraw on your own by Thursday, November 21, 2024 at the Admissions & Records office or online. Keep in mind that you have just three W’s to accumulate during your time at ACC, and six overall.  Be aware of Census Dates early in the semester (usually 12 days in) whereby you can withdraw with no “W” showing up on our transcript.  I will withdraw you if you don’t complete assigned work by the Reporting Date.

INCOMPLETES: You must complete 66% of the course, the Analytical Book Review, and 3 of the 4 exams to be eligible for an “I”.  You then need to complete the course prior to the withdrawal date of the next semester.   Be warned that I’s turn to F’s when not completed and that over 90% of I’s end up as F’s.  This option isn’t for procrastinators trying to kick the can down the road because “they are busy” or distracted by life’s road bumps.  In those cases, just punch out the work.  I award incompletes to people mostly done with the course who encounter severe illness or incapacitating injury.

COURSE COMPLETION DEADLINE: December 15, 2024 at end of class

HISTORY DEPARTMENT POLICIES & FERPA (Student Privacy): Students registering for History courses at Austin Community College need to be cognizant of the fact that the requirements and expectations for those courses may be higher than those for some other courses in the College.  Our courses are intellectually challenging and require that the student is both academically and socially prepared for college-level work. Successful completion of our courses requires a student commit a significant amount of time, effort, and personal responsibility.  As noted above, “extra credit” is not allowed in ACC History courses.

1.   All ACC college-level History courses presume that the student has successfully completed the basic high school U.S. History, Economics and American Government courses.  All HIST 1301 and 1302 sections are taught moving forward from that base of knowledge.

2.  Each History course includes a substantial reading component of approximately 500 to 700 pages of material. The textbooks used in the classes are written at the 14+ grade reading level.

3.  In all classes, some type of writing assignment is a requirement for successfully completing the course.  These assignments will be graded for form (grammar, spelling, and punctuation) as well as content. If you do not possess these necessary writing skills, we recommend you postpone taking History courses until after you have completed ENGL 1301.

4.  The normal mode of instruction is by the lecture method, supplemented in many cases by PowerPoint, video, and internet clips.   The student has a responsibility to come to class prepared and able to take notes based on the reading assignment, class presentation, or lecture.

5.  Each instructor has attendance policies and class behavior policies to which the student must adhere.  These include attending class regularly, arriving on time and staying for the entire class, regardless of other school activities and responsibilities, preparing for class by doing the required reading and assignments, and being respectful of fellow classmates and the faculty member. Any computers or electronic devices used during class time are to be used for class purposes in accordance with the instructor’s directions. All cell phones are to be turned off prior to class beginning and are not to be used during class time. Any use of phones (including texting!) will result in dismissal from the class on the first offense and from the course on the second. 

6.  These are college courses, and all students enrolled in such courses will be treated as college students regardless of the location at which the class meets.  All students are protected by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.  In compliance with this Act, instructors will not discuss student grades, academic progress, or class attendance and participation with a student’s parents, spouse, or significant other.

PRIVACY: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects confidentiality of educational records.  Grades cannot be given over the phone, through a fellow student, or by e-mail in this course.

ADA: Any student needing special accommodation under ADA must complete the necessary forms in the Student Accessibility Services office.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: “Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Student Accessibility Services office on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.”

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY: “Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework.” (For a full list of covered misconduct see page 57 of the ACC Student Handbook at www.austincc.edu/handbook)

Anyone committing these acts in this course will receive the grade of “F” for the course.

ACC Student Standards of Conduct - - -

Acceptable standards of conduct include behavior that:

• Reflects the highest level of honesty and integrity.
• Is civil, courteous, and respectful of all members of the campus community, their property and that of the college, and promotes the smooth and unimpeded delivery of knowledge in the classroom.
• Encourages responsibility and prohibits the unlawful use of alcohol, illicit drugs, other substances, and weapons.
• Promotes mutual respect, equality, and safety of its members and opposes those acts that harass, intimidate, or haze its members.

Anyone failing to adhere to the above standards will be withdrawn from the course at the very least.

ACC ON FACEBOOK: ACC’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Division has a lively Facebook page with daily postings that can let you know about upcoming events and/or specialized classes and help you connect with other students.  The URL is:  https://www.facebook.com/SocBehSciencesACC/

ACADEMIC SUPPORT:  ACC offers academic support services on all of its campuses. These services, which include online tutoring, academic coaching, and supplemental instruction, are free to enrolled ACC students. Tutors are available in a variety of subjects ranging from accounting to pharmacology. Students may receive these services on both a drop-in and referral basis. 

An online tutor request can be made here:

https://de.austincc.edu/bbsupport/online-tutoring-request/

Additional tutoring information can be found here:

austincc.edu/ HYPERLINK "https://www.austincc.edu/students/tutoring/online"onlinetutoring

TEXT:  H.W. Brands, American Stories, Vol. 2, 4th edition (REVEL edition)

This is an electronic textbook, which you paid for when registering for the course.  It will be available via a link on our course Blackboard page.

ANALYTICAL BOOK REVIEWS: In addition to the required grade average, those wishing to earn “A” and “B” grades in HIST 1302 must submit an Analytical Book Review  (see below for book choices and Book Review requirements).

Rationale: This analytical book review will critically examine an important scholarly book covering some aspect of United States History from 1877 to the present.

The purpose of this review is twofold: first, to acquaint the student with a classic volume of historical scholarship and second, to allow the student to think critically about an important facet of American history and then to organize your thoughts in clear, cogent prose.  You should not view this simply as a hurdle which you must overcome in order to earn a grade of “A” or “B” in this course, but rather approach it as an opportunity to expand your creativity in thinking and writing, two very important aspects of any individual's necessary life skills.  Therefore, be advised that I consider this a VERY important aspect of this course and your reviews will be read and graded VERY carefully.

Form: Each book review will be approximately 1,500 words long, although this is a general guideline and not an absolute requirement.  The main objective of this analytical book review should be to comprehensively cover the three sections of the following book report outline:

• Part I: This is a brief outline of the contents of the book.  In the space of one or two paragraphs you should be able to convey the parameters of the book's contents.  DO NOT simply reproduce the book's table of contents.

• Part II: Here is the place for a careful summary of the author’s thesis.   The thesis is the primary idea the author is trying to prove and convince the reader to accept.  You must first identify the thesis and then show how the author either substantiates or fails to substantiate this thesis.  This will undoubtedly take you a page or two to do a good job.

• Part III: This is the most important part of your book review.  Here is where you describe your reaction to the book.  Some of the questions you must answer include: Do you agree or disagree with a book's conclusions?  Why?  Did the book support or contradict what you read in your textbook on the same subject? (You MUST quote some of the relevant passages from both books.)

Should responding to these questions still leave you short of 1,500 words, consider answering one or more of the following questions.  Did you detect any biases on the part of the author?  What was the author's background and why did he or she write the book?  How in your opinion could the book have been improved?  You must be specific and keep in mind there are NO perfect books.  Did you enjoy reading the book? Why or why not?  Would you recommend it to others?

Grading of Book Reviews: The book reviews will be graded “EXCELLENT”, “ACCEPTED”, or “NOT ACCEPTED”. Those seeking the grade of “A”, must be achieve a grade of “EXCELLENT”.   Those seeking the grade of "B", must be graded at least “ACCEPTED”.  Any “NOT ACCEPTED” book reports will be returned to the student to be rewritten – unless this grade is as a result of plagiarism!

Due Dates: The analytical book review is due shortly after mid-semester.

Book Review Resources: The following books may be read for the analytical book review. If you wish to substitute another book for one of these, YOU MUST RECEIVE THE INSTRUCTOR'S PRIOR APPROVAL. All of the following books are found on the shelves of Austin Community College’s RGC Library. They are listed in the order they are cataloged on the shelves.

C. Vann Woodward, Reunion and Reaction
Lawrence Goodwyn, The Populist Movement
Matthew Josephson, The Politicos
Homer Socolofsky and Allen Spetter, The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Ben Maddow, A Sunday Between Wars
Sam Acheson, Joe Bailey
Ben Proctor, Not Without Honor
G.J.A. O'Toole, The Spanish War
Graham Cosmas, An Army For Empire
John Offner, An Unwanted War
Frederick Allen, Since Yesterday
David Shannon, Between the Wars
William Leuchtenberg, In the Shadow of FDR
John G. Adams, Without Precedent
Walter Goodman, The Committee
John Gaddis, Strategies of Containment
Seymour Brown, The Faces of Power
Arnold Offner, The Origins of the Second World War
William Manchester, American Caesar
Forrest Pogue, George C. Marshall
E.B. Potter, Bull Halsey
Barry Goldwater, Goldwater
Thomas Kesssner, Fiorello La Guardia
Edward & Frederick Schapsmeier, Dirksen of Illinois
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Times to Remember
David Oshinsky, A Conspiracy So Immense
Anthony Champagne, Congressman Sam Rayburn
John Martin. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois
Dewey Grantham, Hoke Smith & the Politics of the New South
Howard Beale, Theodore Roosevelt
Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Paolo Coletta, The Presidency of William Howard Taft
Elliot Asinoff, 1919
Arthur Link, Woodrow Wilson & the Progressive Era
Robert Murray, The Harding Era
Harris Warren, Hoover & the Great Depression
David Burner, Herbert Hoover
Robert Divine, The Illusion of Neutrality
Robert Herzstein, Roosevelt and Hitler
Joseph Lash, Dealers and Dreamers
Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression
Geoffrey Perrett, Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph
James Burns, Roosevelt, The Lion and the Fox
Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt
Eric Goldman, The Crucial Decade and After
William O'Neill, American High
Stephen Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound
Robert Divine, The Sputnik Challenge
Dwight Eisenhower, At Ease
Stephen Ambrose, The Supreme Commander
_____________, Eisenhower: the President
David Halberstram, The Best & the Brightest
William O’Neill, Coming Apart
Allen Matusow, The Unraveling of America
H. Norman Schwarzkopf, It Doesn’t Take A Hero
Joan & Clay Blair, The Search for JFK
Henry Hurt, Reasonable Doubt
John Barry, The Ambition and the Power
Gary Wills, The Kennedy Imprisonment
Paul Conkin, Big Daddy from the Pedernales
Doris Kearns, Lyndon Johnson & the American Dream
Theodore White, The Making of the President 1964
Lewis Gould, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment
Fawn Brodie, Richard Nixon
Stephen Ambrose, Nixon
Robert Litwak, Detente and the Nixon Doctrine
Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein, The Final Days
Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith
Lou Cannon, Reagan
Ronnie Dugger, On Reagan

COMMON COURSE OBJECTIVES:  After completing History 1302 the student should be able to:

   1.    Describe how Anglo-American settlement of the west impacted the lives of women, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and African Americans.

   2.    Identify the major industries of the 19th century American West.

  3.    Explain the rise of the major industries in the 19th century United States.

  4.    Describe the effects of 19th century industrialization on labor unions, women and minorities.

  5.    Describe the social effects of urbanization on the 19th century United States.

  6.    Explain the major events of Gilded Age politics.

  7.    Describe the rise of the American overseas empire by 1900.

  8.    Identify the main political, social, intellectual and economic effects of Progressivism on American society.

  9.    Compare and contrast the “Square Deal,” the “New Nationalism” and the “New Freedom” programs.

10.    Explain the background of and U.S. participation in World War I.

11.    Describe how World War I transformed the roles of women, African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

12.    Explain how the 1920s changed American society politically, socially and economically.

13.    Identify the major writers of the 1920s.

14.    Describe the causes of and results of the Great Depression.

15.    Identify the changes in American politics and society brought about by the New Deal.

16.    Explain the effects of American foreign policy in the 1920s and 1930s and the coming of World War II.

17.    Describe the social, economic and political effects of World War II on American society.

18.    Evaluate the major causes and effects of the Cold War on America from 1945 to 1960.

19.    Describe the key events of the 1950s and their effects on American society with special emphasis on McCarthy and civil rights.

20.    Compare and contrast the “New Frontier” and “Great Society” programs.

21.    Examine the American involvement in Vietnam and the effect of that war on American society.

22.    Describe the Republican Resurgence and the effects of Watergate.

23.    Evaluate the effects of the 1980s on American society.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES/LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES UNIT 1

Part A – The Agony of Reconstruction, 1865–1877 (Chapter 16)

16.1     What conflicts arose consecutively involving President Lincoln and then President Johnson and Congress during Reconstruction?

16.2     What problems did southern society face during Reconstruction?

16.3     Why did Reconstruction end?

16.4     Who benefited and who suffered from the reconciliation of the North and South?

16.5     What were the achievements and limits of Reconstruction?

16.6     Describe the content/aims of the 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments.

16.7     Describe the candidates & results of the national election of 1876.

16.8     Describe the Compromise of 1877.
 

Part B – The West: Exploiting an Empire, 1849–1902 (Chapter 17)

17.1     What were the challenges of settling the country west of the Mississippi?

17.2     How were the tribes of the West removed from their homelands?

17.3     Why did Americans and others move to the West?

17.4     Why was the West a bonanza of dreams and get-rich-quick schemes?

17.5     What were the characteristics of the economy that emerged in the West in the second half of the nineteenth century?

17.6     Identify the ways American political leaders sought to remake Indians and change the ways they lived in the latter quarter of the nineteenth century.

17.7      Identify the ways American political leaders sought to remake Indians and change the ways they lived in the latter quarter of the nineteenth century.

Part C – The Industrial Society, 1850–1901 (Chapter 18)

18.1     What enabled the United States to build an industrial economy?

18.2     What were the main characteristics of the new steel and oil industries?

18.3     Why were the new methods of advertising so important?

18.4     Who were the wage earners in the new economy?

18.5     How did wage earners organize in this period, and what demands did they make?

18.6     What characterized the labor movement in the United States from 1870 to 1900?

18.7      Characterize changes to the nature of work for most Americans between 1870 and 1890.

18.8      Explain the importance of railroads for America’s second industrial revolution.

Part D – Toward an Urban Society, 1877–1900 (Chapter 19)

19.1     Why did cities in the United States grow between 1880 and 1900?

19.2     How did growth of American cities affect social, cultural, and political life?

19.3     Why did Jim Crow laws spread across the South after the end of Reconstruction?

19.4     How did life in the growing cities lead to ideas of reform?

19.5     How did the territory and demographics of the United States change in the second half of the nineteenth century?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES UNIT 2 

Part A – Political Realignments, 1876–1901 (Chapter 20)

20.1     Why was there a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats until the mid-1890s?

20.2     What factors led to the formation and growth of the Farmers’ Alliance and People’s Party?

20.3     What were the main political and labor effects of the panic and depression of the 1890s?

20.4     What changes in outlook did the panic and depression of the 1890s bring about?

20.5     Why was the presidential election of 1896 so important?

20.6     What did McKinley accomplish that placed the results of the 1896 election on a solid base?

20.7     How did the People’s Party (Populists) try to found a new political party dedicated to the interests of southern and western farmers and workers?

Part B – Toward Empire, 1865–1902 (Chapter 21)

21.1     Why did Americans look outward in the last half of the nineteenth century?

21.2     What were the causes and results of the war with Spain?

21.3     What were the various viewpoints about the acquisition of empire after the war with Spain?

21.4     In what respects was the United States an imperial power in the late nineteenth century?

21.5      Identify the ideas and the interests that motivated the United States to create an empire in the late nineteenth century.

Part C – The Progressive Era, 1895–1917 (Chapter 22)

22.1     How did industrialism change after 1900?

22.2     How did mass production affect women, children, immigrants, and African Americans?

22.3     Why were there so many strikes in this period?

22.4     What happened to art and culture in these years so filled with change?

22.5     How did industrialization change the composition of America’s workforce and workers’ experiences with labor?

22.6      Identify the institutions and activities that were important in an immigrant’s adjustment to life in the United States.

Part D – From Roosevelt to Wilson in the Age of Progressivism, 1900–1920 (Chapter 23)

23.1     What were the six major characteristics of Progressivism?

23.2     What methods did Progressive reformers use to attack problems in the cities and states?

23.3     How would you describe the personality and programs of Theodore Roosevelt?

23.4     What were the major measures of Theodore Roosevelt’s term from 1905 to 1909?

23.5     Why was the presidency so difficult for William Howard Taft?

23.6     What were the central principles of Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom?

23.7     How did Progressives address the social, political, and economic challenges confronting the United States from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES UNIT 3

Part A – The Nation at War, 1901–1920 (Chapter 24)

24.1     What were the main events that showed the United States was becoming a world power?

24.2     What did Woodrow Wilson mean by “moral diplomacy”?

24.3     What were the reasons behind and dangers of Wilson’s neutrality policy?

24.4     How did the United States’ entry affect the course of World War I?

24.5     What programs and changes did World War I bring at home?

24.6     What mistakes did Wilson make in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles?

24.7     How did the Europe-based conflicts of World War I come to envelop the United States and other parts of the globe?  

Part B – Transition to Modern America, 1919–1928 (Chapter 25)

25.1     What was new about the American economy in the 1920s?

25.2     How did life in the cities change after World War I?

25.3     How did conservatives oppose the changes of the decade?

25.4     How did the politics of the 1920s reflect changes in the economy and in American society?

25.5     How did hostility toward African Americans and other nonwhite groups lead to violence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

Part C – Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1929–1939 (Chapter 26)

26.1     What were the causes and effects of the Great Depression?

26.2     How did Franklin Roosevelt fight the depression?

26.3     How did the New Deal reform American life?

26.4     What was the lasting impact of the New Deal?

26.5     How and why did the New Deal end?

26.6     How did the American government and society react to the economic hardships of the Great Depression?

Part D – America and the World, 1921–1945 (Chapter 27)

27.1     What was isolationism, and why was it so appealing to Americans in the 1920s and 1930s?

27.2     How did the United States go from neutrality in the 1930s to war in 1941?

27.3     How did America and its allies halt the advances of Germany and Japan?

27.4     How did American domestic life change during World War II?

27.5     How did the war end, and what were its consequences?

27.6     How did World War II in the Pacific theater affect the United States, both internationally and domestically?

27.7      Discuss how the war, fought to bring “essential human freedoms” to the world, affected the home front liberties of blacks, Indians, Japanese-Americans, and Mexican-Americans.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES UNIT 4

Part A – The Onset of the Cold War, 1945–1960 (Chapter 28)

28.1     How did the Cold War begin?

28.2     What was containment, and why was it adopted?

28.3     How did the Cold War expand from Europe to Asia?

28.4     How did the Cold War affect life in America?

28.5     How did the geopolitics of the Cold War transform a civil war in the Korean Peninsula into an international war?

Part B – Affluence and Anxiety, 1945–1960 (Chapter 29)

29.1     How did the American economy evolve after World War II?

29.2     How did American culture change after the war?

29.3     How did the civil rights movement develop in the 1940s and 1950s?

29.4     How did the civil rights movement in the United States develop and progress from the mid-1950s through the late 1970s?

Part C – The Turbulent Sixties, 1960–1968 (Chapter 30)

30.1     How did the Cold War intensify under Kennedy?

30.2     What was the “New Frontier,” and what did it accomplish?

30.3     What were Johnson’s domestic priorities and what were his achievements?

30.4     How did Johnson’s Vietnam policy evolve?

30.5     Why were there protests during the 1960s?

30.6     How did the Vietnam War influence American politics?

30.7     How did American goals and views of the war in Vietnam change from the early 1950s to the early 1970s?

Part D – To a New Conservatism, 1969–1988 (Chapter 31)

31.1     What were the major accomplishments and failures of the Nixon presidency?

31.2     How were oil and inflation linked during the 1970s?

31.3     How did private life change during this period?

31.4     Why did the presidencies of Ford and Carter largely fail?

31.5     What was the “Reagan revolution”?

31.6     How did Reagan reshape American foreign relations?

31.7     What has contributed to changes in the economy since 1970?

Part E – Into the Twenty-First Century, 1989–2016 (Chapter 32)

32.1     What were the important issues in George H. W. Bush’s presidency, and how were they handled?

32.2     How did the American population shift and grow between 1990 and 2016?

32.3     What were the accomplishments and failures of the Clinton administration?

32.4     How did George W. Bush become president, and what did he do in the White House?

32.5     What challenges faced Barack Obama and the American people during the first decade of the twenty-first century?

32.6     What does the 2016 presidential election reveal about the American political system and economy?