AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1877 History 331, Section 105 (CRN 1283) FALL 1992 Meeting: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11:00am - 12:15pm Smith Hall 416 Instructor: Mr. Michael J. McCarthy Office Hours: M W F, 8:00am - 4:30pm (or by appointment) Research & Economic Development Center 1050 Fourth Avenue (304) 696-6372 TEXTBOOKS Required: Greenwald, Maurine. Women, War, and Work: The Impact of World War I on Women Workers in the United States. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1990 [1980]. Madaras, Larry, and James M. SoRelle. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History. 4th ed. Vol. 2. Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, 1991. Wolff, Miles. Lunch at the 5 & 10. Revised and Expanded ed. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks, 1990 [1970]. Recommended: Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992 [1984]. ABOUT THE COURSE This course will provide a survey of American History since the end of Reconstruction (1877). This survey cannot be a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of American History during that period, so much material which could be included will have to be omitted. Nonetheless, the approach of the course will be to balance the political, social, ethnic, legal, economic, intellectual, diplomatic and military history of the US, and perhaps even to highlight the interrelations of some of these seemingly diverse areas. You will find that this course will raise more questions than it will answer, for such is the nature of historical inquiry. If nothing else, you should learn to test the validity of any historical claims you may hear, and you will learn that historical interpretations are open to divisive dispute. EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS Five separate assignments will comprise your grade. Exams Two examinations, a midterm and a final, will test knowledge of the lecture material and readings from Madaras and SoRelle, Taking Sides, where applicable. Each exam will include essay and identification terms, which you will choose from a list of possible questions. The final exam will not be comprehensive, and will include only material covered since the midterm. Book Essays The book essays will test your comprehension of the two supplemental books for the course, Greenwald's Women, War, and Work, and Wolff's Lunch at the 5 & 10. These essays will be "open book" and "open note." Critical Analysis Paper The topic and material for the critical analysis will come from the Madaras and SoRelle book, Taking Sides. This text offers opposing essays on a long list of controversial topics in American History. You will choose one of these topics and prepare a paper, three to five pages in length, which summarizes each article relating to the topic, analyzes whether the articles disagree mainly on matters of fact or matters of interpretation and concludes which of the articles is more persuasive. See the sheet labelled "FORMAT FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER" below. These examinations and assignments will carry the following weights: Points EXAMINATIONS: MIDTERM 300 FINAL 300 IN CLASS BOOK ESSAYS: GREENWALD 100 WOLFF 100 CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER: 200 ==== TOTAL 1000 GRADING SCALE Total Possible Points: 1000 900 - 1000 = A 800 - 899 = B 700 - 799 = C 600 - 699 = D 0 - 599 = F ATTENDANCE POLICY This class will not have an official attendance policy, but class attendance is important. The material on the examinations will come in great part from the class lectures, and class discussion will suffer without your presence and participation. If these arguments fail to sway you, please consider the economics of class attendance. For the Fall semester of 1991, a full-time, in-state Marshall undergraduate (not in the College of Business) paid $896.00 in tuition and activity fees and an estimated $1500.00 for living expenses, for a total of $2396.00. Assuming 12 contact hours per week for 14 weeks, these fees come out to $14.26 for each hour of class. If you miss this class, you are wasting $21.39. Please note that these figures do not consider the amount of taxes you paid to the State of West Virginia for its support (however meagre) of Marshall, and therefore the final figure here is a low estimate of the cost of missing class. Although you will incur no outright deductions from the final grade for absence, I will keep a record of those who do not attend. In the case of a borderline grade at the end of the semester, students who appear on this list more than twice will not be given the benefit of the doubt. CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM You are expected to do your own work in this course, both on the exams and on the out of class assignment. The university's policies on cheating and plagiarism will be enforced. WITHDRAWAL POLICY According to the university's policy, the last day on which you may drop an individual class and receive a "W" grade is 16 October. If you look at the course calendar, you will notice that you will receive your first major grade (other than a single book essay) only a day before this date. It would be unfair to prevent you from dropping the course before you have had a chance to gauge the assignments. Thus, I will grant a "WP" grade to anyone, regardless of your actual class performance, up until a week after I return the graded midterm examinations. After this time, however, you will receive either a "WP" or a "WF" based on your status ("passing" or "failing"). MAKE-UP EXAMS AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS Make-ups for the midterm and the book essays will be given on Thursday, 3 December, at 4:00pm. This will be the ONLY make-up date available. The make-up exams will be similar in format to regular tests, but will not offer you choices for the questions. Expect the make-up questions to be more difficult because of the extra time you will have had for preparation. Late papers will be accepted, but will incur a penalty of one letter grade (20 points out of 200) for every day they are late. Paper must be turned in by the end of the class period on which they are due to avoid any penalties for tardiness. FORMAT FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER The material for this paper will come from the Madaras and SoRelle book, Taking Sides. This book includes selections of opposing essays on a variety of controversial issues in American History. You are to choose one of these topics and evaluate the two articles which relate to it. Your paper should include the following sections and should address some or all of these questions: I. Summary of each article II. Evaluation of the disagreement þ In what way(s) do the articles agree? þ In what way(s) do the articles disagree? þ Is the disagreement mainly on a matter of fact or on a matter of interpretation of fact? III. Criticism of articles þ Are there any flaws in the quality of research in the articles? þ Are there any flaws in the quality of the argument in the articles? þ Do the articles display any particular bias? IV. Judgment of articles þ Which article do you find more persuasive, or do you find them both weak? Why? The paper should be three to five pages in length. You may, but need not, consult outside sources, but if you do, be sure to provide adequate documentation (in footnote, endnote, or parenthetical form). The paper should be typed or printed (a word processor is, of course, acceptable) with a dark ribbon, double spaced, with one inch margins on all sides. Please check your grammar and spelling carefully, since your writing style will factor into your grade. COURSE CALENDAR (subject to revision) Week Date 1 25 August Course Introduction (syllabus and policies); The Nature of History 27 August The State of the Union, 1877 (Reconstruction and Aftermath of Civil War; Underlying Societal Tensions) MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 1 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 18 31 August Late Registration / Schedule Adjustment Closes 2 1 September Guaranteed "W" Withdrawal Period Begins; Rise of Industrialism and Big Business MADARAS & SORELLE, CHPS. 2 & 3 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 20 3 September Urbanism and Immigration MADARAS & SORELLE, CHPS. 4 & 6 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 21 3 8 September New South & West; Populism and Agrarian Response to Industrialization; Jim Crow Laws and Segregation MADARAS & SORELLE, CHPS. 5 & 7 TINDALL & SHI, CHPS. 19 & 22 10 September State-level Progressivism and Reform TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 24 4 15 September National-level Progressivism and Reform MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 8 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 24 17 September American Foreign Policy, 1870 - 1914 (Spanish-American War, American Imperialism and Big Stick Diplomacy) MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 9 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 23 5 22 September America and World War I (Neutrality and Military Involvement) MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 10 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 25 24 September American Society During World War I TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 25 6 29 September BOOK ESSAY (Greenwald, Women, War, and Work); Discussion of book 1 October America and the Peace; 1919 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 25 7 6 October Review for Exam 8 October MIDTERM EXAM 8 13 October Women's Suffrage MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 11 15 October Harlem Rennaissance; Culture in the 1920s TINDALL & SHI, CHPS. 26 & 27 16 October Last Day to Drop Courses with "W" Grade 19 October "WP" / "WF" Period Begins 9 20 October 1920s -- Economic Policy; The Depression TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 27 22 October Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal (Legislative and Judicial Battles) MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 12 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 28 10 27 October American Diplomacy, 1920 - 1939 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 29 29 October The Coming of World War II; US Enters the War TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 29 11 3 November American Society During World War II TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 30 5 November World War II Abroad; Origins of the Cold War; Korea MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 13 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 30 12 10 November The 1950s, the McCarthy Era & the Arms Race MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 14 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 31 12 November BOOK ESSAY (Wolff, Lunch at the 5 & 10); Discussion of book 13 November Last Day to Drop an Individual Class (Only Complete Withdrawal allowed after this date) 13 17 November Civil Rights Movement MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 16 TINDALL & SHI, CHPS. 32 & 33 19 November CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPERS DUE; US & Vietnam MADARAS & SORELLE, CHP. 15 TINDALL & SHI, CHP. 34 14 24 November THANKSGIVING -- NO CLASS 26 November THANKSGIVING -- NO CLASS 15 1 December DEAD WEEK; America in the 1960s -- Anti- War & Women's Movements; Watergate TINDALL & SHI, CHPS. 34 & 35 3 December DEAD WEEK; Roe v. Wade and abortion in America; MAKE-UP EXAMS, 4:00pm 16 8 December Review for Final Exam 9 December Last Day to Withdraw from University Completely for Fall 1992 10 December EXAM WEEK -- NO CLASS 15 December FINAL EXAM, Smith Hall 416 10:15am - 12:15pm