History of the U.S. II
512:202:01 Spring 2012
Michele Rotunda
Conklin 346
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Conklin 337 – Mondays 11:45 – 12:45/Thursdays 9:15–9:45
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is an introductory course in American history from the period of Reconstruction to as close
to the present as we can get. Students will be introduced to (and reacquainted with) the basic
events and themes of this period of American history. We will pay particular attention to
America’s role in global politics as well as the place of a variety of cultures and peoples in the
building of this history. Through discussion and assigned work/tests, students will be expected
to compare and contrast the various experiences and perspectives of different groups of
Americans and to critically analyze primary source documents within their historical context.
BLACKBOARD:
A guide to each day’s class containing a brief outline of the lesson, relevant questions and daily short
assignments will be posted on Blackboard. Make sure you are able to access this material as soon as
possible. I strongly suggest that you print these guides out in advance of each class and bring them
with you. Additionally, the power point slides presented in class will also be available for review.
GRADING:
Grades will be calculated as follows:
Attendance:
Participation:
Short (weekly) Assignments:
Midterm:
Final:
5% (Additional penalties may apply – see below)
10%
30%
25%
30%
Attendance/Comment Cards (5%): Attendance is essential to doing well in this class.
You will be responsible for all information presented in class. During each class you will
be expected to write down (on an index card) a comment or question relevant to the
material covered that day. You must supply your own 3 x 5 index card for each class.
Cards will be collected at the end of class. Your attendance grade (maximum of 5 points)
will be based on the number of cards you hand in as follows:
0-1 unexcused absences: 5 points
2 unexcused absences: 4 points
3 unexcused absences: 3 points
4 unexcused absences: 0 points
5 unexcused absences: -5 points (additional 5 points deducted from total)
6 unexcused absences: -10 points (additional 10 points deducted from total)
7 unexcused absences: -15 points (additional 15 points deducted from total)
Important notes: Any student who misses eight or more sessions for any combination of
excused and unexcused absences will not earn credit in this class. Such students should
withdraw from the class.
Participation means you are expected to actively contribute to the class discussion and is
essential to doing well in this class. Class discussions will be based on readings completed at
home. It is expected that students will come to class prepared to actively participate in each
and every class. The quality of your comments and questions matters just as much (if not more
than) the quantity.
**You may contribute to your participation grade by bringing in copies of articles from
current (last 6 months) newspapers and/or magazines that make a specific reference to
historical events/people we are studying. You should include 3-4 sentences of your own
analysis. No articles will be accepted after April 19.
Short Assignments:
 Questions based on the readings will be assigned for each class and posted on
Blackboard.
 Assignments must be submitted online through Blackboard BEFORE class starts to
be considered on time.
 You will receive four points for each day’s assignment. Complete and thoughtful
responses will receive full credit. Assignments that do not adequately demonstrate
knowledge of the readings, late or incomplete assignments will receive reduced points.
Assignments will not be accepted at all after one week unless you have spoken to me or
there has been an excused absence.
 Short assignments will count for 30% of your grade and will be calculated by
dividing the number of points you have earned over the total number of points
possible.
 Information from assigned readings should be sufficient to answer all questions.
Questions based on the primary documents will generally require an understanding of
the historical background found in your textbook. No outside sources are required. If
you choose to consult outside sources, they must be clearly cited. Please be familiar
with the Rutgers plagiarism policy – see below.
 I understand students may work together on assignments, but your responses should
reflect your own interpretation in your own words. Duplicate (or very close)
responses will receive 0 credit and may be reported to the Office of Academic
Integrity.
Midterm/Final: Both exams will consist of a number of short questions and essay
questions. Short questions will be based on key terms listed on class handouts. A list of
possible topics for the essay questions will be handed out prior to the exam.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Make sure you are familiar with Rutgers Academic Integrity
Policy (posted on Blackboard). You must sign the Student Agreement on Plagiarism (also
posted on Blackboard).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students with disabilities, including learning disabilities, requiring assistance and/or
accommodation should provide documentation and speak with me in a timely manner.
READINGS:
Give Me Liberty! An American History, vol. 2 (Seagull 3rd edition) by Eric Foner, Norton
Publishing 978-0-393-91191-3
**abbreviated as GML below
Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History vol. 2, (3rd edition) by Eric Foner, W.W. Norton &
Co.
ISBN: 0-393-92568-4
(Make sure you have the 3rd edition.)
**abbreviated as VOF below
The above texts are available at Rutgers University Bookstore and New Jersey Books. They are
offering a reduced price if you buy both books as a package.
Additional readings may be posted on Blackboard.
COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS:
All assignments are to be completed by the date on which they are shown.
January 17: Introduction
January 19: The Aftermath of the Civil War
GML 15 (skim pp. 546-561, read pp. 561-584);
VOF 95 A Sharecropping Contract
VOF 96 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Home Life”
VOF 98 Robert B. Elliott on Civil Rights,
January 24: The “Frontier”
GML ch. 16, pp. 596-609
VOF 99 Chief Joseph, “An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs”
January 26: Industrialization and Society
GML ch. 16, pp. 585-596, pp. 609-619
VOF 100 William Graham Sumner on Social Darwinism
VOF 103 Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
January 31: Politics in the Gilded Age
GML ch. 17, pp. 629-655
VOF 105 The Populist Platform
VOF 106 Dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson
February 2: Immigration and Labor
GML ch. 16, pp. 619-628
VOF 101 A Second Declaration of Independence
February 7: American Imperial Dreams
GML ch. 17, pp. 655-671
VOF 109 President McKinley on American Empire
VOF 110 Emilio Aguinaldo on American Imperialism in the Philippines
February 9: Urban Life and the Progressive Impulse
GML, ch. 18
VOF 108 Frances E. Willard, Women and Temperance
VOF 114 John Ryan, A Living Wage
February 14: Progress(ive) for Who?
VOF 107 Ida B. Wells, Crusade for Justice
VOF 113 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women and Economics
W.E.B. DuBois, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” (posted on Blackboard)
February 16: American Democracy in the 20th Century
GML ch. 19
VOF 111 Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
VOF 120 Woodrow Wilson, A World “Safe for Democracy”
VOF 124 Randolph Bourne, “Trans-National America”
February 21: The Great War (WWI)
VOF 121 A Critique of the Versailles Peace Conference
VOF 122 Carrie Chapman Catt, Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage
VOF 123 Eugene v. Debs, Speech to the Jury
February 23: Politics and Business after WWI
GML ch. 20, pp. 756-787
VOF 125 W.E.B. DuBois, “Returning Soldiers”
VOF John A. Fitch on the Great Steel Strike
VOF 121 Congress Debates Immigration
February 28: The 1920s: The “New Woman” and the “New Negro”
VOF 112 Manual Gamio on a Mexican-American Family and American Freedom
VOF 128 Andrew Siegfried on the “New Society”
VOF 133 Alain Locke, The New Negro
March 1: Midterm
March 6: The Great Depression and the New Deal
GML ch. 20, pp. 787-793
VOF 136 John Steinbeck, Harvest Gypsies
March 8: The New Deal a Good Deal?
GML ch. 21
VOF 137 Steel Workers Organizing Committee, a New Declaration of Independence
VOF 138 Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Greater Security for the Average Man,”
VOF 139 Herbert Hoover on the New Deal and Liberty
VOF 141 Frank H. Hill and the Indian New Deal
VOF 142 W.E.B. DuBois, “A Negro Nation within a Nation”
March 13: Towards a Second World War
GML ch. 22, pp. 835-847
VOF 143 FDR on the Four Freedoms
VOF 144 Henry R. Luce, The American Century
VOF 145 Henry A. Wallace on “The Century of the Common Man”
March 15: World War II
GML ch. 22, pp. 847-878
VOF 147 World War II and Mexican Americans
VOF 149 Justice Robert A. Jackson, Dissent in Korematsu v. United States
**Spring Break**
March 27: Global Politics and the Cold War
GML ch. 23, pp. 878-891
VOF 151 The Truman Doctrine
VOF 152 NSC 68 and the Ideological Cold War
VOF 153 Walter Lippmann, a Critique of Containment
VOF 155 President’s Commission on Civil Rights
March 29: A Nuclear Society
GML ch. 23, pp. 892-913
VOF 156 Joseph R. McCarthy on the Attack
VOF 157 Henry Steele Commager, ‘Who Is Loyal to America?”
April 3: The 1950s: Consensus and Dissent
GML ch. 24
VOF 162 C. Wright Mills on “Cheerful Robots”
VOF 164 MLK Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
VOF 160 The Southern Manifesto
April 5: The 1960s – Foreign Policy
GML ch. 25, pp. 956-965
VOF 170 Paul Potter on the Antiwar Movement
April 5: The 1960s – Rights Revolution
GML ch. 25, pp. 965-1002
VOF 168 Lyndon B. Johnson, Commencement Address at Howard University
VOF 169 The Port Huron Statement
VOF 171 The National Organization for Women
VOF 172 Cesar Chavez, “Letter from Delano”
April 12: The End of Vietnam and Its Impact
GML ch. 26, pp. 1003-1016
**Additional article on Blackboard.
April 17: What Happened in the 70s?
GML ch. 26, pp. 1016 – 1025
VOF 176 Jimmy Carter on Human Rights
VOF 178 Phyllis Schlafly, “The Fraud of the ERA”
VOF 179 James Watt, “Environmentalists: A Threat to the Ecology of the West”
April 19: The Reagan Era
GML pp. 1025-1042
VOF 177 Jerry Falwell, Listen America!
VOF 180 Ronald Reagan, Inaugural Address
April 24: Globalization and Its Discontents
GML, ch. 27, ch. 28, pp. 1086-1102
VOF 182 Declaration for Global Democracy
VOF 185 Bill Clinton, “Remarks at the America’s Millennium”
VOF 186 The National Security Strategy of the United States
April 26: Where Are We Today?
GML ch. 28, pp. 1102-1130
VOF 192 Barack Obama, Speech to the Islamic World
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Final Exam: Friday, May 4 11:45 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.