History 104 9T3R/Fall 2012
Prof. Conolly-Smith (“PCS”)
Office: PH 352 - V
Office Hrs.: T, Th 1-2 & by
appt.
T, Th 9:25-10:40
Powdermaker Hall, 108
Tel.: (718) 997 – 5380
[email protected]
.edu
U.S. History, Since 1865
This three-credit course examines key political, social, cultural, and economic
developments in America from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present.
HIST-104 fulfills History Dept. major/minor requirements. There are no prerequisites, but
majors and minors are urged to take HIST-103 (also required) prior to taking HIST-104.
This course, in addition to meeting the ANALYZING SOCIAL STRUCTURES area of
knowledge requirement for PLAS (by exploring the rise of political, economic, social,
and governmental institutions) and the United States CONTEXT OF EXPERIENCE
requirement for PLAS (by focusing on the U.S. and its political, racial, cultural,
ideological, economic, and social evolution) also fulfills the following requirements for a
CUNY-PATHWAYS Flexible Core course in the “U.S. Experience in Its Diversity”
category:
Taking this course, you will …
… Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view,
evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically, and produce well-reasoned written
or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions – through regular weekly reading
assignments and discussion, two written assignments, and two exams, as scheduled on the
course outline below;
… Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of the discipline of history – by
applying the historical method, in particular, through the close analysis of primary sources in
their historical context;
… Examine major themes of U.S. history (e.g., atomic warfare) from more than one
perspective – by exploring differing interpretations of such themes and their key events, as
offered by major historians as well as those who experienced them first-hand;
… Evaluate how indigenous populations and immigration have shaped the development of the
United States – by focusing on the diversity of the Native American experience during the
period of the “Indian Wars,” and by immigrant groups, their experience, and their
contributions to U.S. culture and society at key moments in the country’s history;
… and, Explain and evaluate the role of the United States in international relations – by
exploring the U.S. role in major armed conflicts; evaluating its role in international bodies
such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, NATO, etc., and by tracing the impact of
The required text for the course (available in the bookstore) is:
The required text for this class is:
James Roark, et al., The American Promise, vol. 2: From 1865. (Fifth Edition, 2012).
There is also a Xerox-binder/reader for this class available for sale at Iver Printing, Inc.,
at Melbourne Ave. and the corner of 67-03 Main Street (718/275-2070; M-F
9:00AM-6:00PM). Ask for the binder by course number (HIST-104), and by my name,
“PCS.”
Weather-related School Closings can be verified by phone at (718) 997-5000 x 4; in the event of
school closings, continue following the readings as listed on the syllabus: stick to the syllabus!!
Course Requirements/Grade Breakdown:
Your grade will be based on your achievements in the following four areas:
Reading: This course is reading-based: you are expected to do all the assigned reading for
each class meeting. Follow the syllabus carefully: each day’s reading is clearly identified
in the course outline below. To motivate you to do the reading, there will be a quiz every
week, fourteen weeks in a row. Each quiz will be worth 2% of your final grade, meaning
that the sum worth of your quizzes (14 x 2%) = 28% of your final grade. Do all the
reading for every class meeting; it is listed clearly in the syllabus.
Participation: This course is a lecture course with “Q & A” every class, during which
students are encouraged to ask questions and offer any insights, thoughts, or opinions.
Your effort to participate during these Q & A sessions will earn you up to 7 points
towards your final grade.
Midterm Exam: There will be an in-class midterm exam worth 15% of your final grade,
on Tuesday, 10/23. That same day, the first of two written assignments (handed out one
week in advance) is due; it is worth 10% of your grade. Academic dishonesty of any kind
(including, but not limited to, cheating on the test and/or plagiarizing on the paper)
will be handled with the utmost severity allowed by the CUNY Policy of Academic
Integrity; see:
http://www.cuny.edu/about/info/policies/academic-integrity.pdf
Final Exam: A comprehensive final exam, worth 25% of your final grade, will be given
on a date to be determined by the college. On that date, your second paper (distributed on
the last day of class 12/11, and worth 15% of your final grade) is also due. Same
academic honesty rules as above
And there you have it:
Reading:
28% (14 quizzes, each worth 2% of final grade)
Participation: 7%
Midterm:
15%
Paper # 1
10%
paper # 2
15%
Final:
25%
________________________________________________________________________
_
= 100% of your final grade
Course Outline
Week One:
American Exceptionalism?
F.J. Turner’s Frontier Thesis
Tuesday,
8/28
For Thu,
8/30
Week Two:
Introduction to the theme of the class, distribution of syllabus;
Purchase Reader (first) and textbook (second) today!!
Selection # 1 in Course Reader:
*Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in
American History” and related visual materials.
White Men’s Burdens:
American Frontiers in East and West
For Tue,
9/4
For Thu,
World”) –
9/6
American Promise, pp. 535 – 549 (until “Gold Fever”) and 552
(“Diverse Peoples”) – 554 (until “Territorial Government”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 2:
*Readings and Visuals on the Myth vs. the Reality of the West:
Removal Policy, Custer’s Last Stand, Scalping and
Wounded Knee.
American Promise, pp. 658 (from “The United States and the
667 (until “The Debate…”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 3:
*Readings and Visuals on Yellow Journalism, Theodore Roosevelt,
and the Battle of San Juan Hill.
Week Three:
From Imperialism to Progressivism:
For Tue,
9/11
For Thu,
9/13
Week Four:
Tuesday,
For Thu,
Contradictions and Limits of Progressivism:
Race, Gender, and the Election of 1912
9/18
9/20
Week Five:
Tuesday
For Thu,
American Promise, pp. 667 (from “The Debate…”) – 669 (until
“Conclusion”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 4:
*Background information on the Philippine War and
Guantanamo Bay;
American Promise, pp. 675 – top of 683 and pp. 685 (from
“Theodore Roosevelt”) – 694 (until “The Big Stick”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 5: excerpts from
*Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, and
*Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives.
NO CLASSES SCHEDULED AT QUEENS COLLEGE TODAY
American Promise, pp. 694 – 707.
“Neutral” America and the European War
2/25
2/27
Week Six:
NO CLASSES SCHEDULED AT QUEENS COLLEGE TODAY
American Promise, pp. 713 – top right 718 (until “Over There”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 6:
*Summary of Events Leading U.S. into War.
World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Red Scare
“Making the World Safe for Democracy”?
For Tue,
10/2
For Thu,
10/4
American Promise, pp. 718 – 731 (until “A Compromised Peace”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 7:
*Visual Perspective on the Black Experience in WWI;
*Timeline of Events of WWI, “Over Here” and “Over There”;
*Wartime Diary of a New Jersey veteran.
American Promise, pp. 731 – 744;
and, in Reader, Selection # 8:
*Summary of Treaty of Versailles
*Ernest Hemingway, “Soldier’s Home.”
Week Seven:
For Tue,
For Thu,
The Roaring Twenties
From “Blue Skies” to Hard Times
10/9
American Promise, pp. 749 – top of 772 (until “The Great Crash”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 9:
*Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance;
*F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Bernice Bobs her Hair.”
10/11 American Promise, pp. 772 – 780 and pp. 787 – 791
(until “Launching the New Deal”).
Week Eight:
For Tue,
From the New Deal to Neutrality
FDR and the Road to War
10/16 American Promise, pp. 791 – 797 (until “Industrial Recovery”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 10:
*Visual Perspectives on the FDR appeal.
** ATT’N; essay distributed today, Tue 10/16 – due next week
**
For Thu,
10/18 Begin with Selection # 11 in Reader:
*Causes of the Great Depression, then:
American Promise, pp. 825 – end of first paragraph on left hand
side of 829.
Week Nine:
For Tue,
World War II
10/23 American Promise, from second paragraph, 829 – 835 (until
“Building a Citizen Army”) and 836 – 837;
and, in Reader, Selection # 12:
*”How to Tell Japs from Chinese,” Life Magazine, December 22,
1941;
*Timeline of, and Visual Perspectives on, the Events Leading Up
to
U.S. Involvement in the War.
** ATT’N; In-Class Exam—and Essay due—Today, Tue, 10/23
**
For Thu,
10/25 American Promise, pp. 838 (from “Fighting Back”) – 847.
Week Ten:
For Tue,
For Thu,
World War II and the Price of Victory:
the Holocaust and Atomic Warfare
10/30 American Promise, pp. 848 – 852 (until “Defeat of Japan”);
11/1 American Promise, pp. 823 – 824 (yes: 823 – 824), and 852 – 859;
and, in Reader, Selection # 13:
*eyewitness accounts of the atomic bombings.
Week Eleven:
For Tue,
Deal...”);
For Thu,
Hot”)
The Cold War:
Containing Communism at Home and Abroad
11/6
American Promise, pp. 865 – 875 (until “Truman and the Fair
11/8
American Promise, top right 883 – 887 (until Cold War Becomes
and, in Reader, Selection # 14:
*Cold War Images;
*Alvin Goldstein, The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg.
Week Twelve:
For Tue,
For Thu,
Aspects of the “Fabulous Fifties”-I:
From Truman to Eisenhower via Korea and the Suburbs
11/13 American Promise, p. 887 – 892;
and, in Reader, Selection # 15:
*Summary of the Korean War;
11/15 American Promise, pp. 911 (“Burgeoning Suburbs…”) – 918 (until
“Countercurrents”), 897 – 898;
and, in Reader, Selection # 16:
*Visual perspectives on the Suburban Lifestyle, and
*Betty Friedan, excerpt from The Feminine Mystique, and
*NY Times article on Helen Gurley Brown
Week Thirteen:
For Tue,
The “Fabulous Fifties”-II:
Kinsey, Pollock, Kerouac … and Elvis
11/20 American Promise, bottom of 918 – 920 (until “Emergence of…”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 17:
*Visual Perspectives on the 50s Counterculture, and
Thursday
*Jack Kerouac, On the Road, excerpt.
11/22 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING
Week Fourteen:
For Tue,
For Thu,
Civil Rights, 1954-1968:
From Montgomery to Memphis
11/27 American Promise, 920 – 927;
and, in Reader, Selection # 18:
*NY Times on Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, and the young MLK.
11/29 American Promise, 933 – 946, followed by 931 – 932.
Week Fifteen:The Cold War, Part II:
the Elusive Quest for Global Containment
For Tue,
“Applying
For Thu,
(until
12/4
American Promise, pp. 902 (“Liberation Rhetoric”) – 903 (until
12/6
Containment”); 904 (from “Interventions”) – bottom of left
column,
905 (until ¶ beginning “Elsewhere in the Middle East…”),
and 971 – 976 (until “A Growing War”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 19:
*JFK’s Cold War and Civil Rights Record,
*Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev in their own words;
American Promise, 903 (from “Applying Containment”) – 904
“Interventions”), and 976 – 984 (until “The Tet
Offensive”);
and, in Reader, Selection # 20:
*“MLK in His Own Words,” quoted in David J Garrow, Bearing
the Cross.
Week Sixteen
For Tue,
How We Lost the Vietnam War, or:
Don’t Take My Word for It: See What McNamara Says…
12/11 American Promise, pp. 984 – 989 (until “Nixon, Détente…”) and
991 (from “Vietnam Becomes…”) – 998;
and, in Reader, Selection # 21:
* NY Times obituary of Robert S. Mcnamara;
* Illustrated Summary of the Vietnam War (PCS, ed.)
be
***
*** ATT’N: the take-home essay Q (due on day of final exam, see below) will
distributed today in class, Tuesday 12/11; FINAL EXAM date t.b.a.