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Course Syllabus
US HISTORY Since 1865
Spring 2000

Professor: Ken Lehman
Class Meetings: MWF B Period
Office Hours: Maples 021, M, T, Th 1:00-3:00
Office Phone/Voice Mail: 6309 E-Mail: klehman@hsc.edu
Text: Murrin et. al., Liberty, Equality, Power, vol. 2
Additional Readings: Madaras and SoRelle, Taking Sides
Bellamy, Looking Backward
O’Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone
 

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COURSE OBJECTIVES
Since most, if not all of you, already have studied U.S. history, the purpose of this course is to broaden and, more significantly, to deepen your knowledge and understanding of our story. The central question that organizes this class is "who are we as a people and a nation?" But as we begin a new millennium, we can’t help also asking, "where are we headed and can knowing the past help us get where we want to be?" To answer these questions we will look at politics, wars, and diplomacy—the traditional stuff of history—but also at social, intellectual, and economic themes that have been just as important in making us who we are. We will add to what you already know, but just as importantly, will work to get you to rethink some of what you know as well.

Because of my background in Latin American history, the class will be taught from an implicitly comparative and multi-disciplinary perspective. And because you are now more sophisticated in your understanding of history, we will examine in depth the contradictions and paradoxes that lie at the heart of our history, making it a story neither to be celebrated nor trashed, but rather to be understood in all its complexity. Finally, we will examine the ways that history affects the present, but will also appreciate that history is not only valuable because it is "useful," but also because it provides insight into a fascinating past that we can now only dimly understand.

GRADING:
Class participation: 15%
Quizzes over reading 15%
Discussion participation and papers 15%
Written assignments 10%
Two mid-term examinations 25% (12.5% each)
Final Exam 20%
TOTAL 100%

In borderline cases, grade trends will determine your final grade.

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All work, unless stated otherwise by the instructor, should be pledged
and shall be considered to have been pledged whether or not the pledge is made explicit.

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Class Participation: 15% of your final grade is based on class participation, though it may be the most important of all of the factors that determine your grade. Class participation means more than just attendance--it means being a listener, a discussion participant, and a questioner who is not afraid to challenge points that seem unclear or with which you do not agree. But at a minimal level, none of this is possible if you are not in class. Two-thirds of your class participation grade is based on attendance, the other third on what you do when you are in class.  

2. Reading: (15%) You are expected to complete assigned readings in the TEXT (Murrin et. al.) prior to each quiz day. (See class schedule) You will have a short quiz over each chapter in the TEXT. Most quizzes will be closed-book and will be given at the beginning of class on the designated day; Occasionally a quiz will be open-book or you will do it by e-mail. All quizzes are multiple choice and together, they make up 10% of your final grade. Practice quizzes and chapter outlines are available at www.hbcollege.com.

There will be no make-up quizzes, but a quiz is excused if you have an excused absence. Otherwise, if you miss a quiz, your grade is zero. At the end of the class your three lowest quiz scores are dropped when I calculate your final average. If you maintain a class attendance grade above 90%, your five lowest quiz grades will be dropped.

If you have a problem understanding or retaining what you read, please see me early in the course. Hampden-Sydney now offers a reading effectiveness course early each semester. See me for details.

3. Class Discussions: (15%). You are asked to read selections from the book, Taking Sides, in order to participate in class discussions. Each of you will have an opportunity to serve as discussion leader and organizer of one of the topics in the book. Teams of 3 to 5 persons will present key issues debated by historians in assigned sections and then lead a 15-20 minute discussion of the issue. I will assign each of you to a discussion team and give you further details on this assignment during the first full week of class. One third of your discussion participation grade is based on the grade your team receives as discussion leaders; one-third is based on your own individual role in that discussion; and the last one-third of the grade is determined by your participation (orally or written) in discussions led by myself or by other teams. Each group must meet with me the week before it leads the class discussion. It is the responsibility of each group to make this appointment. It is important to read all assigned selections so you can participate in discussions.

4. Writing Assignments: (10%) You will be asked to write three short position papers on the book Looking Backward and two additional short papers (details will come later). All written assignments should be neatly written, typed, or word processed, and free of errors. They will be graded in the same "holistic" way that your rhetoric exams are graded--for the overall impression they give of command of the material and command of the mechanics of writing.

**Points will be deducted from any writing assignment handed in late**

5. Note-Taking: Careful note-taking is a valuable discipline that encourages you to listen carefully in class. In addition, much of the material on examinations will come from lectures and class discussions. Please see me if you are having problems of any kind with note-taking.

6. Examinations: (45%) There will be two noncumulative mid-term exams and a final covering the last third of the class with a cumulative section of multiple choice questions. You are expected to take all exams when scheduled, so please check the schedule in this syllabus to make certain you have no conflicts. Tests include objective and essay questions and will cover both the readings and lectures. Before each exam I will give you a review sheet and will hold a review session. There are only three ways exams can be taken outside the schedule: 1) with my permission, you may take an exam before the hour or day it is scheduled; 2) in emergency cases that can be verified by a letter from the Dean of Students or a call to the Student Health Center, you may take the exam as soon as possible after the hour or day it is scheduled; 3) in all other cases, exams taken out of schedule will be graded on a pass/fail basis, meaning the maximum grade you can receive is 75%.

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CLASS SCHEDULE

Date

 Topic Assignment to be Completed

Jan. 12:

 Introduction to the Class and its Themes Start reading Looking Backward

14:

 Unfinished Business: Reconstruction. 1865-1877 Quiz, chap. 17 TEXT (Murrin)

17:

 Drive to Technological Maturity. 1865-1914  

19:

 The Captains of Industry. 1865-1914 Discuss Taking Sides: Was John D. Rockefeller a "Robber Baron?"

21:

 Labor and the Politics of Stalemate. 1865-1914 Quiz, chap. 19 TEXT

24:

 Myth and Reality of the West. 1865-1890 Quiz, chap 18 TEXT

26:

 Victims of the Myth, 1865-1890  

28:

 Economic Change and the Crisis of the 1890s

Discuss Bellamy’s Critique of Society, (Read at least half the book by this date)

 First Paper on Bellamy is due.

"Problems and Issues of the

Gilded Age"

31:

 Strange Career of Jim Crow, 1877-1910 Discussion 1: Taking Sides: Did Booker T. Washington Betray African Americans?

Feb.2:

 An Industrial Society, 1890-1920 Quiz, chap 20 TEXT

4:

 Progressivism, 1900-1920 Quiz, chap 21 TEXT

7:

 Evaluating Progressivism, 1900-1920

Discuss Bellamy’s Vision of the Future, (Have the

book finished)

 Second Paper on Bellamy

"Bellamy’s Vision of the Future

 

9:

 First Examination: Murrin chapters 17-21, Bellamy, and assigned readings and discussions

11:

 America Turns Outward. 1898-1917 Quiz: Chapter 22 TEXT

14:

 Three Approaches to the World, 1898-1917 Discussion 2: Taking Sides: "Did Yellow Journalism Cause the Spanish-American War?"

16:

 Entering the Great War. 1914-1917  

18:

 A War for Peace. 1917-1920 Quiz: Chapter 23 TEXT

21:

 1920s: Decade of Reaction. 1920-29 Discussion 3: Taking Sides: "Were the 1920’s an Era of Social and Cultural Rebellion?"

23:

 1920s: Decade of Progress. 1920-29 Quiz: Chapter 24 TEXT

25:

 Crash, 1929-1932  

28:

 Depression 1929-1940 Quiz, chapter 25 TEXT

Mar. 1:

 New Deal, 1932-1940 Discussion 4: Taking Sides: "Was the New Deal an Effective Answer to the Great Depression?"

3:

 Road to War: Aggression and Response 1930-1941  

6:

 Fighting the War: Over Here and Over There. 1941-1945 Quiz, chapter 26 TEXT

8:

 Opening of the Cold War. 1945-1949 Quiz, Chapter 27 TEXT

10:

 Creating the National Security State, 1949-1954 Movie Paper Due
  SPRING BREAK  

20:

 Truman and Eisenhower, 1945-1960  

22.

 Assessing the Cold War Discussion 5, Taking Sides: "Was the United States to Blame for the Cold War?"

24.

 Exam II, Murrin, Chapters 22-27, Taking Sides, and class discussions.

27:

 A New Phase in the Cold War, 1950-1965 Begin Reading, If I Die

29:

 Affluence and its Discontents, 1950-1965 Discussion 6, Taking Sides: "Were the 1950s America’s Happy Days?"

31:

 Claiming the American Dream--Civil Rights, 1950-1965 Quiz, chap 28 TEXT

Apr. 3:

 The Climax of Liberalism—Kennedy and Johnson, 1960-1968  

5:

 The Longest War—A discussion of Vietnam, 1945-1975 Be at least half finished with If I Die

7:

 The War at Home and the Counter Culture, 1965-1975 Quiz, chapter 29 TEXT

10:

 The Nixon Years, 1968-1975  

12:

 Watergate and the Nixon legacy Discussion 7, Taking Sides, "Will History Forgive Richard Nixon?"

14:

 Retrenchment in an Age of Scarcity, 1973-1981 Birthday Paper Due

17:

 New Morning in America—Reagan Years, 1981-1988 Quiz, chapter 31TEXT

19:

 End of the Cold War and Beyond, 1985-1999  

21:

 America in Transition: A Discussion Quiz, Chapter 30 TEXT

24:

 Transition to Where? A Discussion Be finished with If I Die
  Final Exam, Murrin, 28-31, If I Die, class discussions and lectures. The exam includes cumulative multiple choice section. Time and Place, TBA
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