AMERICAN HISTORY II
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COURSE INFORMATION
Course Title:
Course Number:
Credit Hours:
American History II
HIS 102
Three credit hours
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course offers a survey of the political, social, and cultural development of the United States
from 1865 to the present. Major topics covered include:
 Post-Civil War Reconstruction
 The industrial revolution of the late 19th century
 The Progressive Movement, World War I
 The Great Depression, and the rise of the New Deal
 World War II
 The Cold War
 Culture and life in the 1950s
 The Great Society and the War on Poverty
 The Civil Rights Movements of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans
 The Feminist Movement
 Vietnam
 Watergate and the rise of modern conservatism
PROFESSOR CONTACT INFORMATION
[Not applicable for course preview.]
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
• Evaluate the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War, including the
successes and failures of the Reconstruction period following the war.
• Determine the impact of industrialization on the American economy and society,
including the growth and influences on capitalism.
• Examine the problems faced by American farmers created by the new market economy
and the rise of the Populist Party.
• Examine the emerging civil rights movements for African Americans and women.
• Determine the economic, social, and military affects of United States imperialism and
investigate how the United States became involved in imperialism and the Spanish• American War.
• Identify the major causes of World War I and World War II and examine how these wars
impacted the military, government policy, civil liberties, and the home front of the United
States.
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AMERICAN HISTORY II
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Examine the experiences of black Americans and women in the early 20th century.
Analyze the major causes of the Great Depression and investigate the impact it had on
the United States.
Explore the purposes and effectiveness of the New Deal and analyze the long term
effects the New Deal had on the United States as a whole.
Summarize the political, social, and economic reactions to the Cold War in the United
States.
Examine the impact of McCarthyism and Watergate on citizens’ attitudes toward
government.
Reconstruct the end of the Cold War, determine how politics was changed by the end of
the Cold War, and examine America’s role in the changing world.
Analyze how the civil rights movement affected United States society.
REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS
No materials are required for this course. However, the following textbook is suggested for use:
Suggested Text
Brinkley, A. (2007). American History: A Survey, Volume 2, 12th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill.
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
This course includes the following methods of instruction:
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Written lectures
Reading assignments
Discussions
Comprehensive project
COURSE POLICIES
The following policies are applied to this course.
Academic Honesty
[Not applicable for course preview.]
Class Participation
[Not applicable for course preview.]
Special Accommodations
[Not applicable for course preview.]
COURSE ASSESSMENTS
[Not applicable for course preview.]
© 2010. The Learning House, Inc.
AMERICAN HISTORY II
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GRADE COMPUTATION
Currently, this course includes:
Assessment
Discussion Boards
Graded Assignments
Weekly Quizzes
Comprehensive Assignment
# of Items
8
8
8
1
Points / Item
10
25
10
100
Total
Grade
80 points
200 points
80 points
100 points
460 points
Grading Scale
[Not applicable for course preview.]
CONTENT OUTLINE
Lesson 1: Reconstruction and Western Conquest
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• Relate the reconstruction differences between the northern and southern states.
• Discuss the effectiveness of the administrations of Presidents Johnson and Grant.
• Define the term “Black Codes.”
• Describe the intents of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
• Contrast the spoils system and the civil service system.
• Assess the Homestead Act of 1862.
• Describe the reasons behind the purpose and passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
• State the reason behind the formation of vigilante groups.
Lesson 2: Industrialization and the Emergence of American Cities
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• List some of the more important inventions, discoveries, and innovations of the 19th
century.
• Describe how the railroad helped with industrialization.
• Relate how the workforce source determined the wages paid.
• Discuss the purposes of unions and the initial failure of strikes.
• Argue the validity of Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest.
• Contrast assimilation and exclusion of immigrants.
• Discuss the features of an urban machine.
• Describe how leisure differed amongst the elite, middle, and low-income urbanites.
© 2010. The Learning House, Inc.
AMERICAN HISTORY II
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Lesson 3: Stalemates, Crises, and the Imperial Republic
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
 List the social issues that created deep divisions in American life.
 Relate the source of declining fortunes of American farmers.
 Discuss the corruption of the governments.
 Examine the effects of power in the hands of a few corporate leaders.
 Describe the Populist movement.
 Assess the value of the imperialistic movement of the United States.
 List the outcomes of the imperialistic movements on the territories acquired.
Lesson 4: Progressivism and National Reform
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
 Name five areas that the reform efforts changed or improved.
 Discuss the initiatives that were addressed by individual women or women’s groups.
 Describe the motives for decentralization and regulation.
 Contrast the schools of thought regarding immigration.
 Identify the causes of the Panic of 1907.
 Describe Dollar Diplomacy, who used it, and how.
 Define the term “eugenics” and how it relates to humans.
Lesson 5: War, Depression, and a New Deal
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• Discuss Wilson’s 14 points.
• Explain the reasons behind capital welfare.
• Relate the cause of the collapse of the European peace.
• State the reasons behind America’s entrance into World War I.
• List the benefits that corporations were pressured to give to workers during the war.
• Recall the reasons for the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.
Lesson 6: America and the World in Crisis
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• List the reasons for the beginning of World War II.
• Explain why the United States and the Soviet Union were at odds.
• Discuss President Roosevelt’s reasons for insisting that the United States become
involved with international affairs.
• Define isolationism.
• Contrast the impact of World War II on the United States and its impact on the Allies.
• Describe McCarthyism.
• Define subversion.
Lesson 7: Society, Liberalism, and Authority
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• List the accomplishments of the Kennedy-Johnson administrations.
© 2010. The Learning House, Inc.
AMERICAN HISTORY II
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Recall the reasons for the civil rights movements.
Define the term “brinkmanship.”
Explain the principle behind the Keynesian Theory.
Discuss the conditions of the “Other America.”
Identify and give the provision of the two medical reforms enacted under the Johnson
administration.
Describe the events that were a part of the Watergate covert operation, which led to the
political demise of President Nixon.
Lesson 8: From Limits to Reagan to Globalization
Upon success completion of this lesson, students should be able:
• List the reasons for the conservative party regaining the White House with Ronald
Reagan.
• Discuss the problems that plagued the Carter administration.
• Describe the most important accomplishments of the Clinton administration.
• Define the term “supply side economics.”
• State some of the events that contributed to the emergence of the African American
middle class.
• Recall the circumstances that led to the downfall of the Nixon administration.
• Name some of the most innovative accomplishments of the late 20th century.
© 2010. The Learning House, Inc.