TITLE: History 2301, Sec. 01 – History of the United States Since 1877
TIME: M-F, 8:00-9:50 a.m., 126 Holden Hall
First Summer 2004, Texas Tech University
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. David L. Snead
Visit my web site at http://www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead/
OFFICE HOURS: M-Th, 12:00-1:00 p.m.; and by appointment. Generally, I am in my office by 7:15 a.m. and
stay to 3:30 p.m. everyday. If I am in my office, please feel free to stop by if you need to see
me. If it is not a good time, I will let you know. You can email me at david.snead@ttu.edu.
You can also call me at 742-1004 (ext 240).
Office: 49 Holden Hall
COURSE OBJECTIVES: To obtain a better understanding of the events, people, and ideas that helped shape the development of the United States since Reconstruction. More specifically, the goals of this course include:
1) To discover the importance of studying history. What purpose does the study of history serve? Will you need to remember anything from this class? You should discover your own answers to these questions throughout the semester.
2) To develop a sufficient background in history to formulate effective arguments. Whether you are pursuing a career in history or not, you will need to make convincing arguments based on the presentation of facts. The study of history prepares you for much more than just a career in history.
3) To gain an appreciation for the influence of the period under study in this course on the events of today. How has the evolution of civil rights laws impacted the development of the United States? How did World War II alter America’s place in the world? How has the generation that came of age in the 1960s influenced the recent history of the United States? These and many more questions will be addressed in this course.
COURSE MATERIALS:
1) Text – Ayers, Edward L., et al, American Passages: A History of the United States, Vol. 2, 2st ed. (Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth).
2) Supplementary Readings
a) Reckner, James R. Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988).
b) Hunt, Michael H. Lyndon Johnson’s War: America’s Cold War Crusade in Vietnam, 1945-1968 (New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, 1996).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Members of this class will be responsible for all material treated in this course, including lectures, readings, discussions, and films. The final course grade will be based on the following:
1)
Two tests – the tests will be worth 35% of your final grade.
Test
1 will cover chapters 17 through 19 and pages 564-6 and 572-3 in the
text, selected primary sources from the textbook website, and any
material covered in class.
Test
2 will cover chapters 20 (except pages 564-6 and 572-3) through 25 in
the text, selected primary sources from the textbook website, and any
material covered in class.
2) 6 quizzes – 7 quizzes will be given based primarily on your readings from the text and materials from your textbook’s website. However, I reserve the right to give a quiz on any material covered in class. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. There will be no make-ups, except for extreme circumstances (A missed quiz will be recorded as a zero). The quizzes will be worth 15% of your final grade.
3) One paper - each student will be required to write one 3 to 5-page paper. It will focus on Reckner’s The Great White Fleet. The paper will be worth 20% of your final grade. The assignment is attached at the end of the syllabus.
4) A final exam - the final exam will be cumulative in the sense that the study of history is based on what is already known. However, emphasis will be given to the material covered since the last test, including chapters 26 through 32 in the text, material from the websites, and Hunt’s Lyndon Johnson’s War. The exam will be worth 30% of your final grade.
Grade Schedule: A+ (98-100), A (92-100), A- (90-91), B+ (88-89), B (82-87), B- (80-81), C+ (78-79),
C (72-77), C- (70-71), D+ (68-69), D (62-67), D- (60-61), F (0-59).
****All
work done in this class must adhere to Texas Tech University’s honor
code.****
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Regular attendance is expected. Every absence, whether excused or unexcused, will be recorded. Any student missing either three or four classes will have his/her final average automatically lowered one full letter grade. If a student misses more than four classes, he/she will automatically fail. A student arriving late or leaving early is subject to being counted absent. Texas House Bill 256 requires institutions of higher education to excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day. The student shall also be excused for time necessary to travel. An institution may not penalize the student for the absence and allows for the student to take an exam or complete an assignment from which the student is excused. You must notify the instructor in advance of the days you will miss as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (Americans with Disabilities Act): I will make every reasonable accommodation to assist students with disabilities. It is the responsibility of the student to let me know of the disability as soon as possible (preferably within the first few days of classes) and to help develop the best program for accommodating his/her needs. Students should provide appropriate verification of need for assistance from the Office of Disabled Student Services in West Hall.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: ASSIGNMENT
6/11 – Wilson’s Progressivism and Foreign Policy Read Ch. 22
Paper Due – Reckner’s
The Great White Fleet
WEBSITE
ASSIGNMENTS
Directions:
On the dates you read a chapter in the textbook, you will also
need to examine the websites listed below for that chapter.
You will be responsible for this material on quizzes and tests.
Accessing the Websites:
1) Go to http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534169546&discipline_number=21 (Since this address is so long, you might want to access it directly the first time from my web site.). Save this website as one of your “Favorites” for the semester. Click on the icon on the right side of the page entitled “Student Book Companion Site”. This action will take you to the Student Resources page.
2) At the top left of this page, select the chapter you want to examine.
3) Select primary sources for that chapter (upper left part of page).
4) From this page, you select the
documents that you are supposed to examine for that particular chapter.
Progress
and Poverty, 1879
Mormon
Emigrants Moving to Utah, ca. 1879
The
Railroad Network, 1880
Preamble
to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor, 1881
"The
Factory System as an Element in Civilization," 1882
The
Albuquerque Indian School in 1885
Chinese
Stereotyping, 1890
"A
Typical East-Side Block," 1890 and 1902
Ray
Stannard Baker, "Hull House and the Ward Boss," 1898
Lee
Chew, "The Biography of a Chinaman," 1903
Jane
Addams, "First Days at Hull-House," 1910
Tenement
Street Scene, 1913
Mississippi
Constitution of 1890
Lynching
of Henry Smith, 1893
Eugene
Debs addresses the American Railway Union, 1894
The
New York World reports the battleship Maine explosion,
1898
"Save
Me From My Friends!" 1898
The
White Man's Burden, 1899
Theodore
Roosevelt on Trusts, 1901
Theodore
Roosevelt on Conservation, 1901
W.E.B.
DuBois, Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others, 1903
A
Grim Warning against Patent Medicines, 1905
The
Condemned-Meat Industry, 1906
Pure
Food and Drug Act, 1906
Disfranchisement
Debate in the Virginia Legislature, 1902
Prohibition
Cartoon, 1908
Children
in the Cotton Mills, 1908
Woman
Suffrage in States, 1912
Votes
for Women a Practical Necessity, ca. 1912
A
Brief for the Palmer-Owen Child Labor Bill, 1914
"Keep
'em going!" Anti-German poster, 1917
"Remember!
The Flag of Liberty! Support It!" 1917
Sedition
Act, 1918
Eugene
V. Deb's Canton Speech, 1918
Race
Riots in Chicago, 1919
Socialist
Cartoon and Poem, 1919
Jazz,
1920s
Woman
and the New Race, 1921
"White
Houses", 1925
Fighting
to Death for the Bible, 1925
"The
Klan's Fight for Americanism," 1926
Prohibition
Raid, ca. 1928
Black
Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange, 1929
"Hooverville,"
New York City, 1930
Christmas
Day Breadlines in New York City, 1931
Special
Message to the Congress on the Economic Recovery Program, 1932
Franklin
D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sara Delano Roosevelt (mother), and Mr.
and Mrs. James
Roosevelt (son), New York City, n.d.
Toy
Loan Library, 1930s
Electrifying
Housework, 1930s
Roosevelt's
Fireside Chat, 1933
WPA
Theater Group, 1935
Women
on the Homefront During World War II, 1940s
African
American Fighter Pilots, 1941-1943
Relocation
Order, 1942
Japanese
Relocation, ca. 1943
The
View from the Enola Gay, 1945
Harry
S. Truman on the Bombing of Hiroshima, 1945
The
Kennan Telegram, 1946
The
Novikov Telegram, 1946
The
Six Thousand Houses That Levitt Built, 1948
Brooklyn
Dodgers' infielder Jackie Robinson, 1948
Senator
Joseph McCarthy, Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, 1950
George
E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit, 1954
Southern
Manifesto, 1956
Duck
and Cover, 1960
Malcolm
X on the March on Washington, 1964
The
Voting Rights Act, 1965
Call
for a March Against the Vietnam War, 1965
Black
Power, 1967
Stokely
Carmichael Speaks at Florida A&M University, 1967
El
Plan de Santa Barbara, 1969
The
American Evacuation of Saigon, 1975
Rejecting
Gender-Free Equality, 1977
Gas
Fever, 1979
American
Hostages in Iran, 1979
The
Evil Empire, 1983
President
Reagan and Premier Gorbachev in Red Square, Moscow, 1988
George
Bush on the Persian Gulf War, 1991
The
Clarence Thomas Confirmation Hearings, 1991
"The
Era of Big Government is Over," 1996
A
Brief History of the Internet, 1999
Paper
1: Jim
Reckner’s The Great White
Fleet
History
2301
Dr.
Snead
Directions:
Identify and describe Reckner’s themes in The Great White
Fleet. What are his
main arguments? What
evidence does he rely upon to make them?
How effective does he make them? Make sure you provide specific
examples to support your arguments.
Due
Date, Rough Draft, and Format:
1)
Your paper is due on Friday, June 25.
2)
The paper must be typed, doubled-spaced with margins on each side of
approximately one inch, and be between 3 and 5 pages in length. In addition, you must turn in a typed and hand-edited rough draft. Any final
paper not containing a typed
and hand-edited draft will be penalized 5 points.
Any paper turned in after the due date will be assessed a ten point penalty for each day it is late,
including weekends.
3)
Please see Professor Snead’s web site at www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead
for tips on writing your essay. With very few exceptions, the best essays in this class will
be the ones that undergo several revisions.
You will only have to turn in one rough draft, but I expect that
you will make several. In
your revisions, check for grammatical errors, organizational problems,
and the persuasiveness of your arguments.
Papers failing to meet the minimum standards presented on the
website will be graded accordingly.
4)
If you have any questions and/or problems at any stage of this
assignment, it is your
responsibility to seek assistance from me.