TITLE:  History 3309, Sec. 1 – United States Diplomatic History since 1913

 

TIME:   TTh, 9:30-10:50 a.m., 28 Holden Hall

              Spring Semester 2003, Texas Tech University

 

INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. David L. Snead
                              Visit my web site at www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead.

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OFFICE HOURS:  TTh, 7:30-8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.-noon; 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 also email me at david.snead@ttu.edu or 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 U.S. foreign relations from the presidency of Woodrow Wilson to the 1990s.  More specifically, the goals of this course include:

 

1) To discover the importance of studying U.S. diplomatic history.  Why is a course on U.S. diplomatic history even taught at Texas Tech?  How will this course influence your understanding of the overall history of the United States?  Why study diplomatic history when there are so many other important historical fields?  You should discover answers to these questions throughout the semester.

 

2) To gain an appreciation for the influence of the period under study in this course on overall U.S. history.  Why was the United States involved in two world wars and several regional conflicts during the 20th century?  How did the Cold War influence American society after World War II?  Why has the United States emerged as the world power that is today?  You will find answers to these questions and more in this class.

 

3) To recognize trends in American diplomatic history that continue to today.  How have U.S. relations with other countries influenced its budget?  Why does the United States often see itself as the world policeman?  How do economic issues affect the development and execution of American foreign policy?  You will recognize these and other trends as the course unfolds.

 

COURSE MATERIALS:

 

1) Text – Paterson, Thomas G., et al.  American Foreign Relations:  A History since 1895, Vol. 2, 5th ed.  Boston, MA:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

 

2) Supplementary Reading

 

a) Ambrosius, Lloyd E.  Wilsonian Statecraft.  Wilmington, DE:  Scholarly Resources, 1991.

  

      b) Levering, Ralph B. et al.  Debating the Origins of the Cold War:  American and Russian Perspectives.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefied Publishers, Inc., 2002.


      c) Hunt, Michael H.  Lyndon Johnson’s War:  America’s Cold War Crusade in Vietnam, 1945-1968.  New York:  Hill and Wang, 1996.

 COURSE REQUIREMENTS:  Members of this class will be responsible for all material addressed 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 30% of your final grade.

 

Test 1 will cover chapters 3 through 5 and pages 173-187 in the text, the primary documents (included below), and any material addressed in class.

 

Test 2 will cover chapters 6 (minus pages 173-187) through 8 and pages 325-340 in the text, the primary documents (included below), and any material addressed in class.

 

2) 6 quizzes - 7 quizzes will be given based on your readings from the text and the primary documents (included below).   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 short book review – each student will be required to write a 3 to 5 page paper on Ambrosius’ Wilsonian Statecraft.   The review will be worth 15% of your final grade.

 

4) One comparative paper – each student will read Debating the Origins of the Cold War and write a 3 to 5 page paper analyzing the beginning of the Cold War.  The paper will be worth 15% of your final grade.

 

5) 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 Chapter 9 (minus p. 325-340) and chapters 10 through 12 in the text, the primary documents (included below), and any material addressed in class during the last third of the course.  There will also be an essay question addressing Hunt’s Lyndon Johnson’s War.  The exam will be worth 25% 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 between two and three weeks of classes (i.e. five or six class sessions) will have his/her final average automatically LOWERED ONE FULL LETTER GRADE.  If a student misses more than three weeks of classes (i.e. seven or more class), he/she will automatically FAIL.  A student arriving late or leaving early is subject to being counted absent.

 

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 and to help develop the best program for accommodating his/her needs.

 

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

 

1/16 – Introduction and Foundations of 20th Century U.S. Foreign Policy                                    Skim Chs. 1-2

 

1/21 – Library Day

 

1/23 – Library Day                                                                                                                                    Read Ch. 3

 

1/28 – Emergence of the U.S. as World Power                                              

 

1/30 – Wilson’s Interventions

 

2/4   – The U.S. and World War I                                                                                                           Read Ch. 4

 

2/6                                                 

 

2/11 – Determining a Role in the 1920s and the early 1930s                                                              Read Ch. 5

           Paper #1 DueWilsonian Statecraft

 

2/13 – U.S. Response to Axis Aggression in the 1930s                                                                     Read pages 173-187

 

2/18 – World War II Comes to the U.S.                                                                                                            

 

2/20 – Test #1                                                                                                                                           Read pages 187-215

 

2/25 – U.S. Diplomacy during World War II

 

2/27 – Yalta, Potsdam, and the Atomic Bomb                                                                                      Read Ch. 7

 

3/4   – Cold War under Truman

 

3/6                                                                                                                                                     Read Ch. 8

 

3/11 – Eisenhower and the Cold War

 

3/13 –                                       

           Paper #2 DueDebating the Origins of the Cold War

 

3/15-23 – Spring Break

 

3/25 – Kennedy’s Cold War – Berlin, Cuba, and elsewhere

 

3/27 – Test #2                                                                                                                                           Read Ch. 9

 

4/1   – The U.S. and Vietnam

 

4/3                              

 

4/8   – LBJ’s Foreign Policies besides in Vietnam                                                                               Read Ch. 10

 

4/10 – Nixon and the Cold War

 

4/15 –                                   

 

4/17 – The Nadir – The Ford-Carter Years                                                                                            Read Ch. 11

 

4/22 – Reagan – The Consummate Cold Warrior   

 

4/24 –                                                                                                                                                Read Ch. 12

 

4/29 – Bush’s Foreign Policy Triumphs

 

5/1   – U.S. Foreign Policy to 2000

 

Final Exam – Thurs., May 8, 7:30-10:00 a.m.

 

 

Primary Sources

 

Directions:  You are responsible for reading the documents listed below at the same time that you read the respective chapter.  Please access the documents through the course syllabus that can be found at www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead.  There will be questions on the quizzes, tests, and final exam.  For each document, think about why it is significant, what impact it had only American foreign policy, and whether it was the best possible policy at the time.

 

Documents for First Test:

 

Chapter 3

 

Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918)

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) (Part 1, Articles 10-17)

Henry Cabot Lodge’s Reservations to the League of Nations (1919) (Reservations 1-14)

 

Chapter 4

 

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) (Introduction and Articles 1-3)

Neutrality Act of 1937

Atlantic Charter (1941)

 

Chapter 5

 

Washington Naval Disarmament Treaty (1921) (Chapter 1, Articles 1, 4-7, 11, and 19; 

Nine Powers Treaty (1922) (Articles 1-7)

Treaty Between the United States of America and Cuba; May 1934 (Introduction and Articles 1-3)

 

Documents for Second Test:

 

Chapter 6

 

The Bretton Woods Agreements (1944) (Articles 1 and 2 – Sections 1-2, and Schedule A)

Yalta Conference (1945) (Parts 1-7)

United Nations Charter (1945) (Articles 1, 2, 4, 7, 23-25, and 27)

 

Chapter 7

 

Truman Doctrine (1947)

The Rio Treaty (1947)  (Articles 1-3)

U. S. Proposal for Temporary United Nations Trusteeship for Palestine (1948)

NATO Treaty (1949)  (Articles 1-6)

 

Chapter 8

 

Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea (1953)

Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (1963)

 

Documents for Final Exam:

 

Chapter 9

 

Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Resolution (1964)

 

Chapter 10

 

SALT I (1972) (Articles 1-3, and the Protocols to the Interim Agreement)

Treaty Between the U.S. and the USSR on the Limitation of ABM Systems (1972) (Articles 1-3 and 15)

War Powers Resolution (1973)

Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons (1975) (Articles 1-5)

 

Chapter 11

 

Camp David Accords (1978)

INF Treaty (1987)

 

Chapter 12

 

George Herbert Walker Bush’s New World Order Speech (1990)

START I (1991)

 

 

Paper 1:  Wilsonian Statecraft

 

Directions:  Lloyd Ambrosius argues, “Wilson’s statecraft evidenced both idealism and practicality, yet his liberal internationalism suffered from a lack of realism.” (xii)  Does Ambrosius successfully make this argument?  Why or why not?  In answering these questions, you need to identify and explain Ambrosius’ basic arguments and then evaluate how persuasive he was in making them considering the evidence he provided.  Be sure to cite specific examples using footnotes to support your arguments.  The format for the footnotes can be found on Dr. Snead’s website, www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead, at the “Reading and Writing Tips” link.

 

Due Date, Rough Draft, and Format:

 

1) Your paper is due in class on Tuesday, February 11.

 

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.

 

 

Paper 2:  Debating the Origins of the Cold War

 

Directions:  Using the documents and commentary provided in the book, explain why you think the Cold War began and who should be blamed for its start.  Make sure you use evidence from the primary sources as well as from the historical essays.  Cite specific examples using footnotes to support your arguments.  The format for the footnotes can be found on Dr. Snead’s website, www3.tltc.ttu.edu/snead, at the “Reading and Writing Tips” link.

 

Due Date, Rough Draft, and Format:

 

1) Your paper is due in class on Thursday, March 13.

 

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.

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