University of Minnesota- Twin Cities
Spring 2017
Hist 1308
Global America: U.S. History since 1865
Credits: 3
Course details
This course centers on the period from 1865 to today. Following the Civil War, Americans struggled to define,
yet again, the core beliefs of the nation. Who is an American? What is freedom? How have the rights of
Americans expanded or contracted over time? How does capitalism influence a republic? What is the role of
the state in economic or military crises? How have issues of race, gender, immigration, gender and class
changed over the past 150 years? What is the role of the United States in the world? How has that role
changed? Special attention will be placed on the narratives of peoples or classes historically marginalized
throughout the past century. Through the use of primary sources and supplemental secondary readings,
students will examine these questions, and others, which existed before the founding of the nation and
continue to dominate the nation today.
By examining the past 150 years of history we will confront and debate the issues that were placed before
previous Americans not only locally and nationally but also through the lens of America’s increasing
interconnections with the global world. Questions of race, labor, and immigration will play out over the
context of American’s industrial growth and its competition with European powers. Westward expansion and
the wars on Native peoples can be seen as part of a global imperialism that the United States implemented at
home and abroad. At the turn of the twentieth century, urbanization and immigration led to confrontations
over citizenship, political power and responsibility and reform. Economic booms, crashes, and World Wars in
the twentieth century impacted American debates on race, gender and the role of the government to impact
the lives of its citizens. The post-war world, spinning on the point of a Cold War between the United States
and the Soviet Union, impacted American discussion of civil liberties and American identity. The demand for,
and expansion of, civil rights for all Americans from the 1950s into the eighties paralleled similar movements
in the post-colonial world. The conservative movements of the 1980s and 90s will be seen within the context
of a post-Cold War world and the rise of non-nation state conflicts today.
As a dual-enrollment course, students in HIST 1308 must meet the standards set for by the University of
Minnesota.
Syllabus minimum requirements:
Course prerequisites: Students must be in the top 20% of their graduating class to be enrolled in the course.
Course goals and objectives: This course fulfills the University’s Liberal Education “Historical Perspectives
Core” requirement. Students will examine how historians interpret the past, and how and why those
interpretations may differ and change. Students will analyze, contextualize and evaluate firsthand evidence
from the past (primary sources)and assess historians’ analyses of that evidence (secondary sources) to
understand how historical knowledge is produced and how historical debates have impacted the nation’s
history.
Required and recommended materials:
Brinkley, Alan, American History: A Survey. McGraw Hill 14th ed. (2015).
Roark, James L. The American Promise: A History of the United States. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2004
The textbooks will offer background for the other readings and assignments in the course. Assigned textbook
readings will be listed in advance. Course Readings include, but are not limited to, those outlined in each unit
below. All readings are required, including those to be read in advance of our U of M field day. All readings
will be available through your district Schoology account.
General descriptions of student work: This course will be broken up into five themed units, each unit ending
with an exam. The exam structure will include an essay question and a number of short identification and
significance topics.
Unit I The Rise of Industrial America
Guiding Question: What new conflicts (political, economic and social) arose after Reconstruction and what
were the responses to those conflicts?
Content: The rights of freedmen and women; Reconstruction; freedmen’s bureau, and the 1877 Railroad
strike; rise of labor unions; industrialization, urbanization and the rise of American cities, the Gilded Age; and
Indian wars, closing of the Frontier, Native American culture and boarding schools, the Populist Party
Readings:
Week of January 30- February 3
Roark, Chapter 17
Lydon, Sarah, Chinese Gold: The Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region (excerpt)
Mooney, James, The Ghost-Dance Rebellion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890 (excerpt)
Red Cloud, Speech at Cooper Union, 1870
Jackson, Helen Hunt, A Century of Dishonor (excerpt)
Week of February 6 – 10
Roark Chapter 18
Alger, Horatio Ragged Dick
Week of February 13-17
Brinkley Chapter 18
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Miller, Zane, The Urbanization of Modern America: A Brief History (excerpt)
Unit II Clashes Over Citizenship, Political Power, Responsibility and Reform
Guiding Question: How did America’s growing involvement in world affairs impact and influence
American’s ideas about citizenship and American purpose?
Content: Immigration, and imperialism; the formation of the labor unions; industrialization and technology;
populist movements, progressivism, the Spanish American War, and conquests in the Pacific.
Readings:
Week of February 20-24
Brinkley Chapter 19
Eisenstein Sarah Give Us Bread but Give Us Roses (excerpt)
Carnegie, Andrew, “Wealth”
Hoar, George, Against Imperialism
Gatewood, Willard, Black Americans and the White Man’s Burden (excerpt),
Gjerde, Jon, The Other Immigrant Experience: Rural Immigrants in the Midwest
CIS Field Day Readings
Week of February 27 – March
Roark, Chapter 21
Zunz, Olivier, Below the Immigrant: The Black Urban Experience
Clark Norman, Reform as Social Control
“Washington, Booker T., The Atlanta Exposition Address
“Did the Progressives Fail?”
Sinclair, Upton, The Jungle (excerpts)
Week of March 6 – 10
Brinkley Chapter 21
Wilson, Woodrow, War Message to Congress
Norris, George, Against Entry into War
“Letters from the Great Migration” 1916-1917
Major Assignments:
Historiography on the Progressives (CIS Common Assignment 1)
CIS Field Day: March 17
CIS classes will prepare for the Field Day experience that will be held at the University of Minnesota in
May. Readings will be provided for this preparation and positions will be assigned. It is imperative that you
read your assigned material. CIS U. S. History Students will be excused from school for the entire day. This is a
required component of the class.
Unit III The United States and Global Conflicts
Guiding Question: How did Americans’ concept of the role of government change from turn of the century
through the Second World War? What were the causes of that change?
Content: World War I, Isolationist policies, mass production and mass consumerism, and radio and movies;
Harlem Renaissance; the Great Depression; Political parties and the transition from classical liberalism to New
Deal liberalism with the capitalist crisis of the 1930s; America’s entry and involvement in WW II, demographic
shifts, the role of women and nonwhites, and battles for economic rights.
Readings:
Week of March 13-17
Brinkley Chapter 22
Barton, Bruce, Jesus Christ as Businessman, 1925
Sacco and Vanzetti
Smith, Al, Catholic and Patriot: Governor Smith Replies
Week of March 20 – 24
Brinkley Chapter 23
Hughes, Langston, “I, Too”
Cullen, Countee, “Incident”
Week of March 27 – 31
Brinkley Chapter 24
Le Sueur, Meridel, Women on the Breadlines 1932
Roosevelt, Franklin, First Inaugural Address 1933
Long, Huey, Share Our Wealth 1935
Week of April 10 – 14
“Dustbowl Odyssey”
Steinbeck, John, The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5
Scharf, Lois, Women’s Roles in the Depression
Week of April 17 – 21
Roark, Chapter 25
McWilliams, Carey, The Zoot-Suit Riots 1943
Korematsu v. United States 1944
Hartmann, Susan, The Homefront and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s (excerpt)
“The Decision to Drop the Bomb”
Unit IV Challenges at Home and Abroad
Guiding Question: In what ways did the rights movements of the postwar years represent a continuation of
movements earlier in American history, and how might they have been new developments?
Content: The atomic age; the affluent society and suburbs; discrimination, the Other America, and the African
American Civil Rights movement; the Cold War; Korean war and Vietnam and U.S. imperial policies in Latin
America and Africa; the Beats and student counterculture, antiwar, women’s, Chicano, American Indian, and
gay and lesbian movements; summer riots and the occupation of Alcatraz; LBJ’s Great Society and the rise of
the New Right;
Readings:
Week of April 24 – 28
Brinkley Chapter 27
The Truman Doctrine 1947
National Security Council Document 68 1950
Eisenhower, Dwight, “Military-Industrial Complex” Speech
Week of May 1 – 5
Brinkley Chapter 28
Kennedy, John F., Inaugural Address 1961
From Rosie to Lucy
Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring (excerpt)
Riesman, David, The Suburban Dislocation (excerpt)
The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 9
Week of May 8 – 12
Brinkley Chapter 29
King, Rev. Martin Luther, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Carmichael, Stokely, Black Power
SDS, The Port Huron Statement, 1962
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien “On the Rainy River”
Week of May 15 – 19
Brinkley Chapter 30
Articles of Impeachment Against Richard Nixon 1974
Major Assignments: Vietnam War Oral History Primary Source Analysis (CIS Common Assignment 2)
Unit V The United States at the Dawn of Globalization
Guiding Question: How has the United States been both a supporter, and a challenger of, globalization in
the past 25 years?
Content: Ronald Reagan and new conservatism, summary of Reagan’s domestic and foreign policies; Bush Sr.
and the end of the Cold War; Clinton as a New Democrat; technology and economic bubbles and recessions,
race relations, and the role of women; changing demographics and the return of poverty; rise of the prison
industrial complex and the war on drugs; 9/11 and the domestic and foreign policies that followed; and
Obama
Readings:
Week of May 22 – 26
Brinkley Chapter 31
Gibbs, Lois, Love Canal
Steinem, Gloria, In Support of the Equal Rights Amendment
Wofgang, Nyra, In Opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment
Week of May 29 – June 2
Roark, Chapter 31
Juergensmeyer, Mark, Understanding the New Terrorism
Week of June 5 – 9
Finals Week
Statement on extra credit: Extra credit will not be offered in this course.
Make-up work: Late assignments and make-up work will follow the Johnson Senior High policies in the
student handbook. All work is expected to be turned in on the due date listed.
Final Exam details: The cumulative final exam is scheduled for Friday, June 9. Alternative arrangements must
be approved by the instructor.
Attendance policy: Expectations for this course are such that student attendance is absolutely necessary. All
Johnson Senior High attendance policies will be enforced throughout the course. Please see the Johnson
Student Handbook for more information.
Grades: You grade will be based on the following categories: Unit Tests - 60%, Class Assignments – 30% and
attendance and participation 10%.
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus Academic Policies, 2016-17
Student Conduct Code
The University seeks an environment that promotes academic achievement and integrity, that is protective of
free inquiry, and that serves the educational mission of the University. Similarly, the University seeks a
community that is free from violence, threats, and intimidation; that is respectful of the rights, opportunities,
and welfare of students, faculty, staff, and guests of the University; and that does not threaten the physical or
mental health or safety of members of the University community.
As a student at the University you are expected adhere to Board of Regents Policy: Student Conduct Code. To
review the Student Conduct Code, please see:
http://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/policies/Student_Conduct_Code.pdf.
Note that the conduct code specifically addresses disruptive classroom conduct, which means "engaging in
behavior that substantially or repeatedly interrupts either the instructor's ability to teach or student learning.
The classroom extends to any setting where a student is engaged in work toward academic credit or
satisfaction of program-based requirements or related activities."
Use of Personal Electronic Devices in the Classroom
Using personal electronic devices in the classroom setting can hinder instruction and learning, not only for the
student using the device but also for other students in the class. To this end, the University establishes the
right of each faculty member to determine if and how personal electronic devices are allowed to be used in
the classroom. For complete information, please reference: http://policy.umn.edu/education/studentresp.
Scholastic Dishonesty
You are expected to do your own academic work and cite sources as necessary. Failing to do so is scholastic
dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in
unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty
permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation
with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement;
altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research
procedures, or data analysis. (Student Conduct Code:
http://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/policies/Student_Conduct_Code.pdf) If it is determined
that a student has cheated, he or she may be given an "F" or an "N" for the course, and may face additional
sanctions from the University. For additional information, please see:
http://policy.umn.edu/education/instructorresp.
The Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity has compiled a useful list of Frequently Asked
Questions pertaining to scholastic dishonesty: http://www1.umn.edu/oscai/integrity/student/index.html. If
you have additional questions, please clarify with your instructor for the course. Your instructor can respond
to your specific questions regarding what would constitute scholastic dishonesty in the context of a particular
class-e.g., whether collaboration on assignments is permitted, requirements and methods for citing sources, if
electronic aids are permitted or prohibited during an exam.
Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences
Students will not be penalized for absence during the semester due to unavoidable or legitimate
circumstances. Such circumstances include verified illness, participation in intercollegiate athletic events,
subpoenas, jury duty, military service, bereavement, and religious observances. Such circumstances do not
include voting in local, state, or national elections. For complete information, please see:
http://policy.umn.edu/education/makeupwork.
Appropriate Student Use of Class Notes and Course Materials
Taking notes is a means of recording information but more importantly of personally absorbing and
integrating the educational experience. However, broadly disseminating class notes beyond the classroom
community or accepting compensation for taking and distributing classroom notes undermines instructor
interests in their intellectual work product while not substantially furthering instructor and student interests in
effective learning. Such actions violate shared norms and standards of the academic community. For
additional information, please see: http://policy.umn.edu/education/studentresp.
Grading and Transcripts
The University utilizes plus and minus grading on a 4.000 cumulative grade point scale in accordance with the
following:
4.000 - Represents achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course
A
requirements
A- 3.667
B+ 3.333
3.000 - Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course
B
requirements
B- 2.667
C+ 2.333
C
2.000 - Represents achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect
C- 1.667
D+ 1.333
1.000 - Represents achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course
D
requirements
For additional information, please refer to: http://policy.umn.edu/education/gradingtranscripts.
[S/N (Satisfactory/Non-satisfactory) is not a grading option for courses offered through CIS.]
Sexual Harassment
"Sexual harassment" means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with
an individual's work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or
academic environment in any University activity or program. Such behavior is not acceptable in the University
setting. For additional information, please consult Board of Regents Policy:
http://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/policies/SexHarassment.pdf.
Equity, Diversity, Equal Opportunity, and Affirmative Action
The University provides equal access to and opportunity in its programs and facilities, without regard to race,
color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran
status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. For more information, please consult Board
of Regents Policy: http://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/policies/Equity_Diversity_EO_AA.pdf.
Disability Accommodations
The University of Minnesota views disability as an important aspect of diversity, and is committed to providing
equitable access to learning opportunities for all students. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is the campus
office that collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable
accommodations.
 If you have, or think you have, a disability in any area such as, mental health, attention, learning,
chronic health, sensory, or physical, please contact [Associate Director of College in the Schools, Jan M.
Erickson ([email protected] or 612-624-9898) and/or] the DRC office on the University of Minnesota
Minneapolis campus ([email protected] or 612.626.1333) to arrange a confidential discussion regarding
equitable access and reasonable accommodations.
 Students with short-term disabilities, such as a broken arm, can often work with instructors to
minimize classroom barriers. In situations where additional assistance is needed, students should
contact the DRC as noted above.
 If you are registered with the DRC and have a disability accommodation letter dated for this semester
or this year, please contact your instructor early in the semester to review how the accommodations
will be applied in the course.
 If you are registered with the DRC and have questions or concerns about your accommodations, please
contact your University access consultant/disability specialist.
Additional information is available on the DRC website: https://diversity.umn.edu/disability/ or e-mail
[email protected] with questions.
Mental Health and Stress Management
As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained
relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of
motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance
and may reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. University of Minnesota services are available to
assist you. You can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on
campus via the Student Mental Health Website: http://www.mentalhealth.umn.edu.
Academic Freedom and Responsibility
Academic freedom is a cornerstone of the University. Within the scope and content of the course as defined
by the instructor, it includes the freedom to discuss relevant matters in the classroom. Along with this
freedom comes responsibility. Students are encouraged to develop the capacity for critical judgment and to
engage in a sustained and independent search for truth. Students are free to take reasoned exception to the
views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are
responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled.*
Reports of concerns about academic freedom are taken seriously, and there are individuals and offices
available for help. Contact your instructor, CIS-Hist faculty coordinator Professor Lisa Norling
([email protected]), and/or CIS Associate Director Jan M. Erickson ([email protected]) for assistance.
* Language adapted from the American Association of University Professors "Joint Statement on Rights and
Freedoms of Students".