HIST357 (Smead)
The United States since 1945
(June 20 – July 8, 2016)
(WB11) Online
CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course
Summer 2016
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Instructor: Dr. Howard Smead
e-mail: [email protected]
NOTICE: This syllabus will be revised slightly from time to time over the course, as dead
links crop up, or I make a readings change, or a due date is pushed back. However, there will
be NO MAJOR CHANGES.
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Description
This is a course about recent America. It explores political, cultural and social history of this country
since 1945 with a heavy emphasis on domestic issues and events. Although we will examine
international events and foreign relations, these topics, with a few major exceptions, will largely
viewed in terms of their domestic consequences. The course aims to provide the student with a better
understanding of the tidal forces at play since the end of World War II that have coalesced (and not
always easily or simply) to make the nation in which we now live.
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Students who participate fully and complete all their assignments to the best of their ability will
analyze and to a degree work with primary source material in the assigned texts and can be assured of
a fuller appreciation of the way in which use these sources to interpret and explain America’s recent
history.
Please be clear that this is a 3-week course that is ENTIRELY ONLINE. All course material is
available on ELMS. The exams will be taken and submitted online. All written assignments will
be submitted online.
Required Texts: H. W. Brands, American Dreams: the United States since 1945
Available for about $5 at Amazon.com, or elsewhere. (ISBN: 978-0-14-311955-5)
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Primary Sources linked
Grade Requirements: There will be THREE short essays on topics based upon the assigned lectures
and readings, and weekly online discussion of topics both assigned by me and raised by students. In
addition, there will be a mid-term exam and a cumulative final exam. Please note: a minimum course
GPA of 90% is necessary to earn and ‘A-’ for this course.
Grade Standards:
Essays:
30% (10% each)
Discussion (online): 15%
Mid-Term exam:
25%
Final Exam:
30%
No Extra Credit under any circumstances.
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Course Structure: This course is divided into three MODULES, one module for each week. Each
module contains Topics (Pages) containing the course material which are also summarized in this
syllabus. To access the material, click on Modules in the left hand column, then click on each topic in
that module.
MODULE 1
LECTURE TOPICS and READINGS:
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ASSIGNMENTS FOR WEEK 1 (June 20 – 26)
CLICK ON MODULES TO ACCESS THE LECTURE TOPICS
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Please note: ALL READINGS LISTED ARE REQUIRED
Topic: Major Themes
1. Lecture:
Listen to the following podcasts on ELMS:
Major Themes
2. PowerPoint: View the Following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Major Themes 1945 – Present”
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Topic: Origins of the Cold War
“From Stettin in the Baltic …”
1. Lecture:
Listen and take notes on the following podcast on ELMS:
Cold War Origins
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Origins of the Cold War”
3. Video:
Formal Surrender of Japanese, ending WW II
4. Reading: Brands, chapters 1, 2, 3 (to page 50)
Phillip Morrison, TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SPECIAL SENATE COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY
Henry Wallace, “Letter to President Truman”
5. Course Documents: Major Events of the Cold War
“Are You Now or Have You Ever Been ...?”
Listen and take notes on the following podcast on ELMS:
Red Scare
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Red Scare”
3. Video:
Welch vs. McCarthy
4. Reading: Brands, chapter 3 (from page 50)
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Topic: Red Scare
1. Lecture:
Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956
The Rosenberg’s sons reflect on the parents’ guilt/innocence
Topic: 1950s
1. Lectures:
“Say, Kids, What Time Is It?”
Listen and take notes on the following podcast on ELMS:
1950s America
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2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Golden 50s”
3. Reading: Brands, chapters 4 (to page 84, 91 – 99)
How Ike Stood up to his Generals
The Rise of American Consumerism
Howard Smead, “The Baby Boom”
I Love Lucy: The Impact of Sitcoms on American Culture
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Topic: Election of 1960, JFK
“Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You.”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Election of 1960, JFK
JFK Assassination, personal life
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoints on ELMS:
“Election of 1960”
“JFK”
3. Videos:
View and take notes on the following clips:
Kennedy-Nixon debates
Kennedy-Nixon debates
Inaugural Address
Cuban Missile Crisis:
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
JFK Address on Civil Rights
Assassination Video: Zapruder film
Magic Bullet (computer analysis)
4. Reading: Brands, chapter 5 (100 – 108)
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Topic: LBJ & the Great Society
“Upwards to a Great Society”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
LBJ
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“LBJ Great Society”
3. Reading: Brands, chapter 5 (115 – 127)
Lyndon Johnson “The American Promise”
Joseph A. Califano, "What Was Really Great About the Great Society"
4. Audio: LBJ ordering new slacks
Topic: Civil Rights and Black Power “I Have a Dream”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Civil Rights Revolution
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Civil Rights Revolution”
3. Videos: View and take notes on the following Civil Rights clips:
Selma, 1965
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WEEK 1 DISCUSSION:
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Watts, 1965
Detroit, 1967
Malcolm X
Huey P. Newton, “Interview from Jail”
4. Reading: Brands, chapters 4 (84 – 91), 5 (108 – 114, 127 – 130)
Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Statement of Purpose
Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet”
Stokely Carmichael, “Black Power”
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Go to Week 1 Discussion and comment on one of the questions listed below. Or, respond to or
comment on someone else’s post. Please feel free to take any position you care to, pro/con/inbetween. You must participate every week. If you have a particularly insightful comment or
make a compelling response to someone else's post, one post will most likely be enough. You are
judged on quality, not quantity. However, there is no limit on the number of posts you can
make each week. But they must be submitted no later than 11:59pm EDT, Sunday June 26.
1. Senator Joe McCarthy (R, WS) was a scheming, politician with no scruples whatsoever.
2. Senator Joe McCarthy (R, WS) was a conscientious, patriotic and much misunderstood American.
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3. President John F. Kennedy was a welcome antidote for the excesses of McCarthyism.
4. The Great Society was misguided and ill conceived.
WEEK 1 ESSAY:
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Drawing on relevant readings from your texts, write and submit a 500-word minimum reaction
paper to any ONE of the following questions. (No maximum length). Submit the essays via
Assignments on ELMS under Essay 1 or, as a last resort, e-mail to me ([email protected]).
Essay is due no later than 11:59pm EDT, Sunday June 26. Please state the question at the top of
the essay.
1. Under the circumstances at the time, abuse of civil liberties by HUAC, Senator Joe McCarthy, and
Truman’s Justice Department was justified. Why or why not?
2. Describe the isolationist opposition to Truman’s containment policy from conservatives
Republicans led by Senator Robert A. Taft and Progressives led by Henry Wallace.
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3. Describe how the 1950s might have been “Golden” for some Americans, and not quite so
“Golden” for others.
4. Define “nonviolent direct action” and discuss why did the activists of the Civil Rights Movement
use these tactics.
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MODULE 2
ASSIGNMENTS FOR WEEK 2 (June 27 – July 3)
TOPICS and READINGS:
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CLICK ON MODULES TO ACCESS THE LECTURE TOPICS
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Topic: 60s Protest Movements
“Power to the People”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
The 60s
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“60s Protest Movements”
3. Videos: View and take notes on the following clips:
Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Timothy Leary documentary
Weather Underground
Manson Murders
Chicago, 1968 Democratic Convention—1
Chicago, 1968 Democratic Convention—2
4. Reading: Brands, chapters 6 (146 – 152), 7 (to page 162, 175 – 180)
National Organization for Women Statement of Purpose
Weather Underground, “Communiqués 1, 2, and 4”
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Topic: The War in Vietnam “In Order to Liberate This Village We Had to Destroy It.”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Vietnam
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Vietnam War”
3. Videos: View and take notes on the following video clips:
Tet Offensive
Anti-War Riots of 1968
John Kerry, “Vietnam Veterans against the War Testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee”
4. Reading: Brands, chapter 6 (to page 145, 152 – 158), 7 (169 – 171, 174 – 175)
Richard Nixon, “Vietnamization”
Topic: Nixon, Watergate “A crappy little thing that didn’t work”
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1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Nixon
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Nixon”
3. Reading: Brands, chapter 7 (162 – 174, 180 –186)
“Nixon was Worse Than We Thought”
“Resignation Speech”
4. Course Documents: Watergate Timeline of Events
5. Audio Link: Nixon (possibly intoxicated) on the phone with Bob Haldeman after a Watergate speech
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Topic: Ford, Carter, Culture of the 70’s “Crisis of the American Spirit”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Ford & Carter
70s Culture
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Ford, Carter, 70s”
3. Reading: Brands, chapter 8
Jimmy Carter, “Crisis of Confidence” (Malaise speech)
4. Video: 70s TV commercial: “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”
History Channel: Jonestown (article and video)
MID-TERM EXAM Friday July 1, 7 - 8:15pm EDT
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Please note: The mid-term exam covers all material from the Cold War through and including the
presidencies of Ford and Carter and the culture of the 1970s.
The exam will be released under Assignments (or Quizzes) on ELMS at 7pm on July 1. Your
examination must be submitted via Assignments under Mid-Term Exam by 8:15pm EDT July
1. NO EXCEPTIONS
To Access the Mid-Term Exam:
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1. Go to Assignments (or Quizzes) on ELMS.
2. Click on Mid-Term Exam when it becomes available (which is just before the
scheduled time.)
3. Choose the questions you want to answer and answer them in the designated space.
4. When you are finished the ENTIRE exam, click submit. If you click submit you will
have one opportunity to go back and re-submit. But your work may be lost, and the
opportunity to re-submit cannot be guaranteed due to the quirkiness of ELMS.
5. The safest and best way to answer the question is to write the answers in Word or
another program and then cut and paste into the answer area.
6. Under no circumstances should you exit ELMS during the exam.
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WEEK 2 DISCUSSION:
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Go to Week 2 Discussion and comment on one of the questions listed below. Or, respond to or
comment on someone else’s post. You must participate every week. If you have a particularly
insightful comment or make a compelling response to someone else's post, one post will most
likely be enough. You are judged on quality, not quantity. However, there is no limit on the
number of posts you can make each week. But they must be submitted no later than 11:59pm
EDT, Sunday July 3.
1. The Counter-Culture was self-indulgent and harmful to society.
2. Watergate was a political vendetta by the Democrats against Richard Nixon.
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3. Richard Nixon was a scheming and possibly paranoid man with little or no respect for the
rule of law.
4. The Anti-war was wrong and misguided.
WEEK 2 ESSAY:
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Drawing on relevant readings from your texts, write and submit a 500-word minimum reaction
paper to any ONE of the following questions. (No maximum length). Submit the essays via
Assignments ELMS under Essay 2 or, as a last resort, e-mail to me ([email protected]). Essay
is due no later than 11:59pm EDT, Sunday July 3. Please state the question at the top of the
essay.
1. Given the prosperity and optimism of the 1950s, how can you explain the rise of the
counterculture and its rejection of “Establishment” (or mainstream) values?
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2. Given his record of the “Southern Strategy” and “positive polarization,” how could some
observers consider President Richard Nixon “the last liberal?”
3. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter spoke about a “crisis of the American spirit” during the
latter 1970s. In reality the 60s era (which ended in 1974) was itself all about a crisis of the
American spirit. Agree or disagree? Why or why not?
4. Describe the Cambodian Incursion and explain why it had such a profoundly negative effect
on the American public.
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MODULE 3
ASSIGNMENTS FOR WEEK 3 (July 4 - 8)
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TOPICS and READINGS:
CLICK ON MODULES TO ACCESS THE LECTURE TOPICS
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Topic: Election of 1980; Conservatism “There you go again.”
1. Lecture: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Reagan
Reagan, Conservatism, 80s Culture
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Election of 1980”
3. Videos: View and take notes on the following video clips:
Reagan (1964): “The Speech”
Reagan-Carter Debate: “There you go again.”
Ronald Reagan “Inaugural Speech”
4. Reading: Brands, chapters 9 (to page 217, 223 – 232)
YAF: The Sharon Statement
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Topic: Reagan and Reagan Era Culture
“Mistakes Were Made.”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Reagan, Conservatism, 80s Culture
2. PowerPoints: View and take notes on the following PowerPoints on ELMS:
“Reagan and Reagan Era”
“Bush I”
3. Videos: View and take notes on the following video clips:
Iran-Contra for Dummies
George H. W. Bush: “Read my lips. No new taxes.”
Bentsen/Quayle Debate: “I knew Jack Kennedy”
Willie Horton ad
4. Reading: Brands, chapters 9 (217 – 223, 232 – 236), 10 (to page 251, 256 – 262)
“How the GOP Stopped Caring about You” (Describes the
ideological shifts in the Republican Party)
The Iran-Contra Scandal (summary)
Topic: George H. W. Bush “Traditional Family Values”
1. Lecture: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
George H. W. Bush
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Bush 1”
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3. Reading: Brands, chapter 10 (251 – 256), 11 (to page 270)
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Topic: Clinton, 90s Culture
“A Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Election of 1992
Clinton
Culture of the 90s
2. PowerPoints: View and take notes on the following PowerPoints on ELMS:
“Election of 1992, “Clinton”
“90s Culture”
3. Reading: Brands, chapters 11 (271 – 290), 12
The Impeachment of President Clinton (summary)
A guide to the allegations of Bill Clinton’s womanizing
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Topic: The Culture Wars “I didn’t have sex with that woman.”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Culture of the 90s
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“90s Culture”
3. Reading: Brands, chapter 13
Topic: Election of 2000, George W. Bush
“Compassionate Conservatism”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
Election of 2000
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoints on ELMS:
“Election of 2000, Bush 2”
3. Reading: Brands chapter 14 (to page 346)
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Topic: 9/11, “The War on Terror” “Why Do They Hate Us?”
1. Lectures: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
War on Terror
2. PowerPoints: View and take notes on the following PowerPoints on ELMS:
“War on Terror, part 1”
“War on Terror, part 2”
2. Reading: Brands, chapter 14 (from page 346), 15 (to page 378)
Topic: Election of 2008, Obama, Tea Party
“A Post-Racial Society????”
1. Lecture: Listen and take notes on the following podcasts on ELMS:
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WEEK 3 DISCUSSION:
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Election of 2008, Obama, Tea Party
2. PowerPoint: View and take notes on the following PowerPoint on ELMS:
“Election of 2008, Tea Party”
3. Reading: Brands, chapters 15 (378 – 385)
Harold Myerson, “The Forty-Year Slump”
Ryan Lizza, “Battle Plans How Obama Won.”
Gardner, Amy, “Gauging the scope of the tea party movement in America.”
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Go to Week 3 Discussion and comment on one of the questions listed below. Or, respond to or
comment on someone else’s post. You must participate every week. If you have a particularly
insightful comment or make a compelling response to someone else's post, one post will most
likely be enough. You are judged on quality, not quantity. However, there is no limit on the
number of posts you can make each week. But they must be submitted no later than 11:59pm
EDT, Sunday, July 10.
1. The protest movements of the 1960s and 70s amounted to an assault on traditional
family values.
2. As a practical matter, Reagan’s conservatism was not that much different from Johnson’s
liberalism.
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3. George Bush won the 2000 election fair and square.
4. Ronald Reagan’s economic policies were largely responsible for the financial “meltdown” of
2008 and 2009.
WEEK 3 ESSAY:
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Drawing on relevant readings from your texts, write and submit a 500-word minimum reaction
paper to any ONE of the following questions. (No maximum length). Submit the essays via
Assignments ELMS under Essay 3 or, as a last resort, e-mail to me ([email protected]). Essay
is due no later than 11:59pm EDT, Sunday, July 10. Please state the question at the top of the
essay.
1. Describe the major elements of conservatism as conservatism emerged in the Reagan Era.
What was new about it? Why?
2. Barak Obama’s election as president in 2008 was a fluke that cannot be readily explained.
Agree or disagree? Why or why not?
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3. Obamacare was the major reason for the Tea Party revolt in the 2010 elections.
4. Conservatism inspired the American public to believe in and work for a better country.
5. Liberalism inspired the American public to believe in and work for a better country.
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FINAL EXAM Friday, July 8, 7pm – 9pm EDT
The Final Exam will be released under Assignments (or Quizzes) on ELMS at 7:00pm EDT on
Friday, July 8. Your examination must be submitted via Assignments under Final Exam by
9:00pm EDT July 8. NO EXCEPTIONS
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To Access the Final Exam:
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1. Go to Assignments (or Quizzes) on ELMS.
2. Click on Final Exam when it becomes available (which is just before the
scheduled time.)
3. Choose the questions you want to answer and answer them in the designated
space.
4. When you are finished the ENTIRE exam, click submit. If you click submit you
will have one opportunity to go back and re-submit. But your work may be lost,
and the opportunity to re-submit cannot be guaranteed due to the quirkiness of
ELMS.
5. The safest and best way to answer the question is to write the answers in Word or
another program and then cut and paste into the answer area.
6. Under no circumstances should you exit ELMS during the exam.
PLEASE NOTE:
University Policies:
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1. Students with disabilities should contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to discuss
any accommodation for this course.
2. The University has approved a Code of Academic Integrity (http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html)
which prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for
credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, facilitating academic dishonesty,
submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. Plagiarism policy: all quotations taken from
other authors, including from the Internet, must be indicated by quotation marks and referenced.
Paraphrasing must be referenced as well. The following University of Maryland Honor Pledge,
approved by the University Senate, should be handwritten and signed on the front page of all papers,
projects or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course: "I pledge on my honor
that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."
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Plagiarism
"Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or areas of another as one's own in academic
exercise."
Information that is obtained in one's reading or research, which is not common knowledge
among students in the course, must be acknowledged.
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Direct Quotation: Every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by
appropriate indentation and must be promptly cited in a footnote. (The MLA Style
Sheet and K.L. Turabian's Manual outline proper footnote style for many academic
departments.)
o Paraphrase: Immediate acknowledgement is required when material from another
source is paraphrased or summarized, in whole or part, in your own words.
Paraphrasing is not reordering words in a sentence.
Textbooks and handouts are not considered common knowledge
Materials that contribute only to one's general understanding of the subject may be
acknowledged in the bibliography and need not be immediately footnoted.
Contact The Writing Center for more information.
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3. Religious observance: Please inform your instructor of any intended absences for religious
observance well in advance.
http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.section/c/27/ss/1584/s/1540
4. In case of inclement weather: please be specific about procedures; see the faculty handbook:
http://www.faculty.umd.edu/teach/attendance.html
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5. This syllabus may be subject to change. Students will be notified in advance of important changes
that could affect grading, assignments, etc.
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