HIST 242.20 – U.S. HISTORY SURVEY                                       

 

                     

Josephine Gaydos, flag-raising ceremony at Slovak Hall, Fifth & Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia (1939.)

 

                          

                       

                                                                                                           

 

                                                                                                            Dr. Robert M. Zecker

                                                                                                            318 Nicholson Tower

                                                                                                            867-3009

                                                                                                            rzecker@stfx.ca

                                                                                              

                                                                                    Office Hours: M, Tu, Th 9-12, 1-4

                                                                                                           Fri, 9-10:15, 11:15-12 

                                                                                                  Class times excepted

                                                                                                    (or by appointment)

                                                                                                            

Course Description

    This is a three-credit survey course that examines developments and trends in United States history from pre-European contact to the present (or at least the moment at which I am typing.) We shall investigate the key moments of life in what was to become the United States. We shall explore themes such as the collision of European, indigenous and African cultures in the Americas; the tensions between chattel slavery and political independence based on virtuous self-sufficiency and equality; and the opportunities, and drawbacks that were presented by the rise of industrial capitalism.

We shall explore all of this, and more, from an approach that endeavors to be a “worm’s eye view” of history, considering how even such supposed moments of unity as war and revolution may have been different based on a person’s gender, ethnic, racial, class or regional background. Our approach will respect the experience of all peoples and will avoid viewing them exclusively through the lens of any particular society. We shall suggest that historical change is a matter of individual agency, choice-making and struggle, followed by more struggle, not anonymous forces such as “progress.”

After saying “we” so often in the previous paragraph, let me stress that history is a matter of interpretation and argument. I have endeavored to cover the events and themes that I feel were the most important in the period from 1500 to 1865. Ask three other historians, and you’ll get four different opinions. What I mean to say is that nothing you shall hear from me is gospel. If you disagree with what I have to say, or with anything the authors we read has written, tell me. The Americans were certainly a “rude republic,” and there’s no reason we all have to agree.

Course Objectives:

1. Describe important events, personalities, traditions, trends, and institutions that shaped U.S. history;
2. Examine the causes, effects, and significance of crucial political, economic, educational, and religious developments;
3. Evaluate key historical developments in U.S. history;
4. Develop and apply the skills of historical scholarship-- purposeful and critical reading, gathering and weighing of evidence, interpretation of evidence, effective organization and presentation of ideas, etc.
 

Course Policies:

  1. Please review St.F.X.'s academic regulations found in the calendar.
  2. Class attendance: essential and part of the participation component of your grade.
  3. Readings: all listed readings are required and should be done before the class for which they are assigned. Handouts will be provided by me ahead of time.
  4.  Engaged attendance, i.e., participation in discussions, asking questions, etc., can only help your participation grade. There are no wrong questions or comments. Remember, Socrates said “the smartest person in the world is the person who knows (s)he knows nothing.” 
  5. Disabilities: please tell me about any disability that will affect your course performance.
  6. Extended illnesses: please notify me, and, where appropriate, supply a doctor's note.
  7. Assignment due dates: please observe, for late assignments will be penalized (two points/day). Extensions must be requested, at the latest, three days before the due date and for legitimate reasons. No assignments will be accepted beyond a grace period of seven days following the due date.
  8. Please be sure to keep your own personal copy of all assignments you submit. And update and back up everything you do on a computer!!
     

Evaluation:

Written work:      Term Essay        25%
                      
                            
Quizzes/Exams:    October Quiz (midterm): 25%
                              Final Exam                40%

Participation: 10%

All books are available at the university bookstore, and may also be available at finer used bookstores in Halifax and elsewhere.

 

Joseph Ellis, Founding Brothers

James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom

Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom

Mary Rowlandson, Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration

Sean Wilentz, Chants Democratic

 

·  Important Dates: 

  • Mid-term quiz: Thursday, 21 October
  • Last Class: Thursday, 2 December.
  • Christmas Exam (tentative date): As per university exam schedule

First-Term Essay Assignment: TBA

First-Term Essay Due Thursday, 7 November.

 

**********************************************************************

 

Week One: Introduction; Historical Knowledge: How We Know What We Think We Know

Thur., 9 Sept.

Fri. , 10 Sept. America Before it was America: First Nations

** (on reserve), Andrea & Overfield, The Human Record, 19-26 **

 

Week Two: There Goes the Neighborhood: The Spanish, Portuguese, and Other Early Interlopers

Tues., 14 Sept.: Mary Rowlandson, Narrative of the Captivity …, 3-36

** (on reserve), Andrea & Overfield, The Human Record, 65-78 **

Thur 16 Sept.: Colonies in the Making: Roanoke, Jamestown, Massachusetts Bay, New France  

Rowlandson, 36-79

Fri., 17 Sept.: Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, 3-43

 

Week Three:

Tues, 21 Sept.: Slavery and Empire

Morgan, 44-130

Thu, 23 Sept. Colonial Cultures (Religion, and that other religion: Commerce)

Morgan, 180-249

Fri., 24 Sept.: Mercantilism and the Clash of European Rivals

Morgan, 295-337

 

Week Four:

Tues., Sept. 28: French and Indian Wars

Morgan, 338-362

Thus., 30 Sept.: Late colonial society and its discontents

Morgan, 363-387

Fri., 1 Oct.: The road to independence, 1763-1776

Joseph Ellis, Founding Brothers, 3-19

Week Five:

Tues, 5 Oct.: Creation of the United States, Part I

Ellis, 20-47

Thu., 7 Oct.: Revolutionary War

Ellis, 48-80

Fri, 8 Oct.: Articles of Confederation: These (DIS)United States

Ellis, 81-119

 

Week Six: 

Tues, 12 Oct.: Creation of the United States, Part II

Ellis, 120-161

Thurs.,14 Oct.: Constitution

Ellis, 162-205

Fri, 15 Oct.: Constitution and Its Foes

Ellis, 206-end.

 

Week Seven:

Mon., 19 Oct.: Constitution ratified

Tues., 20 Oct.: Class, and review for midterm! Bring questions for me.

Fri, 21 Oct.: MIDTERM

 

Week Eight:

Tues, 26 Oct.: Early Republic: The Rise and Fall of Jeffersonian Republicanism

Sean Wilentz, Chants Democratic, 23-103

Thus., 28 Oct.: The Market Revolution (Artisan Self-Sufficiency Under the Gun)

Wilentz, 105-142

Fri, 29 Oct.: The Old South and King Cotton

 

Week Nine:

Tues, 2 Nov.: The Second Party System: Jackson’s Fanfare for the Common (White) Man

Wilentz, 143-216 (** US ELECTION DAY -- LIGHT A CANDLE BILL REHNQUIST GETS A COLD.)

Thus., 4 Nov.: The Second Great Awakening and the Rise of Reform

Wilentz, 255-296

Fri, 5 Nov.: Gender Relations in the Nineteenth Century Republic

 

Week Ten:

Tuesday, 9 Nov.: Immigrants and Nativism (or “How the Irish Became White”)

Wilentz, 299-325

James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 3-46

Thus., 11 Nov.: HOLIDAY --- NO CLASSES

Fri., 12 Nov.: Manifest Destiny

McPherson, 46-77

Week Eleven

Tuesday, 16 Nov.:  Slavery North and South: The Meaning of Race

McPherson, 78-116

Thus., 18 Nov.: The Compromise of 1850; Crisis Averted – NOT!

McPherson, 117-144

Fri., 19 Nov.: Bleeding Kansas and Other Disuniting Forces

McPherson, 145-169

 

Week Twelve:

Tuesday, 23 Nov.: The Turbulent ‘50s (Continued)

McPherson, 170-201

Thurs., 25 Nov.: The Road to Disunion (Secession and Sumter) 

McPherson, 202-275

Secession

Fri., 21 Nov.: Civil War: Political and Military Muddles, 1861-1863

McPherson, 339-368, 392-414, 490-510, 524-545

 

Week Thirteen:

Tuesday, 30 Nov.: Civil War: The Union Strikes Back, 1863-1865

McPherson, 626-665, 718-750

Civil War: political, economic business left unfinished (or half-finished)

McPherson, 689-717, 831-862

Thur., 2 Dec.: SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS. Review for First Semester’s Final Exam. Bring me your questions!

 

  An enjoyable evening on Fairmount Avenue, Newark, N.J., circa 1952.Carmen “Cholly” Albanese,

Joan Albanese (right.) Woman in middle unidentified. “Pass the cow.”

 

                                                  HIST 244.20 – U.S. HISTORY SURVEY                                       

                                                                 Spring 2005

                       

                                                                                     Tu, Th, Fr, Various Borgesian times

 

 

                                                                                                            Dr. Robert M. Zecker

                                                                                                            318 Nicholson Tower

                                                                                                            867-3009

                                                                                                            rzecker@stfx.ca

                                                                                              Office Hours: M-Th 9-12, 1-4

                                                                                                    Class times excepted

                                                                                                    (or by appointment)

                                                                                                             

Course Description

    This is a three-credit survey course that examines developments and trends in United States history from the Civil War era to the present (or at least the moment at which I am typing.) We shall investigate the key moments of life in what was to become the United States. We shall explore themes such as the collision of European, indigenous and African cultures in the Americas; the tensions between chattel slavery and political independence based on virtuous self-sufficiency and equality; and the opportunities, and drawbacks that were presented by the rise of industrial capitalism.

We shall explore all of this, and more, from an approach that endeavors to be a “worm’s eye view” of history, considering how even such supposed moments of unity as war and revolution may have been different based on a person’s gender, ethnic, racial, class or regional background. Our approach will respect the experience of all peoples and will avoid viewing them exclusively through the lens of any particular society. We shall suggest that historical change is a matter of individual agency, choice-making and struggle, followed by more struggle, not anonymous forces such as “progress.”

After saying “we” so often in the previous paragraph, let me stress that history is a matter of interpretation and argument. I have endeavored to cover the events and themes that I feel were the most important in the period from circa 1861 to the present. Ask three other historians, and you’ll get four different opinions. What I mean to say is that nothing you shall hear from me is gospel. If you disagree with what I have to say, or with anything the authors we read has written, tell me. The Americans were certainly a “rude republic,” and there’s no reason we all have to agree.

Course Objectives:

1. Describe important events, personalities, traditions, trends, and institutions that shaped U.S. history;
2. Examine the causes, effects, and significance of crucial political, economic, educational, and religious developments;
3. Evaluate key historical developments in U.S. history;
4. Develop and apply the skills of historical scholarship-- purposeful and critical reading, gathering and weighing of evidence, interpretation of evidence, effective organization and presentation of ideas, etc.
 

Course Policies:

  1. Please review St.F.X.'s academic regulations found in the calendar.
  2. Class attendance: essential and part of the participation component of your grade.
  3. Readings: all listed readings are required and should be done before the class for which they are assigned. Handouts will be provided by me ahead of time.
  4.  Engaged attendance, i.e., participation in discussions, asking questions, etc., can only help your participation grade. There are no wrong questions or comments. Remember, Socrates said “the smartest person in the world is the person who knows (s)he knows nothing.” 
  5. Disabilities: please tell me about any disability that will affect your course performance.
  6. Extended illnesses: please notify me, and, where appropriate, supply a doctor's note.
  7. Assignment due dates: please observe, for late assignments will be penalized (two points/day). Extensions must be requested, at the latest, three days before the due date and for legitimate reasons. No assignments will be accepted beyond a grace period of seven days following the due date.
  8. Please be sure to keep your own personal copy of all assignments you submit. And update and back up everything you do on a computer!!

Evaluation:

Written work:    Essay       20%
                            
Quizzes/Exams: February Quiz: 30%
                           Final Exam       40%

Participation: 10%

All books are available at the university bookstore, and may also be available at finer used bookstores in Halifax and elsewhere.

William Adler, Mollie’s Job

Thomas Bell, Out of This Furnace

Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction

James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi

  Important Dates: 

  • Mid-term quiz: Friday, 18 February
  • Last Class: Wednesday, 6 April
  • Exam (tentative date): As per university exam schedule

Essay Assignment, Proposal Due: Thursday, 3 February.

Essay Due Thursday, Friday, 11 March.

 

**********************************************************************

WEEK ONE: The Civil War

Mon., 3 Jan., NO CLASSES

Tues., 4 Jan.: Introduction; Historical Knowledge: How We Know What We Think We Know

Thu., 6 Jan.: Political and Military Muddles, 1861-1863

McPherson, 339-358, 396-414, 461-489, 524-545, 557-583

Fri., 7 Jan. : The Union Strikes Back, 1863-1865

McPherson, 591-665, 721-750

 

WEEK TWO: The Civil War and Reconstruction

Tues., 11 Jan.: Political and economic business left unfinished (or half-finished)

McPherson, 807-852

Thu, 13 Jan.: Aftermath of the Civil War: Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction, 1-34

Fri, 14 Jan.: Origins of Reconstruction: Foner, 35-81

 

WEEK THREE: Reconstruction & The Triumph of the Gilded Age

Tue, 18 Jan.: Reconstruction: Foner, 81-147

Thu, 20 Jan.: Reconstruction under Assault: Foner, 148-179

Fri, 21 Jan.: Bourbons and Wall Street: Foner, 180-216

 

WEEK FOUR: “JEFFERSONANISM’S” LAST STAND?

Tues., 25 Jan.: Vanishing Jeffersonianism: Foner, 216-237

Thu, 27 Jan.: Segregation and Disfranchisement: Foner, 238-end.

Fri, 28 Jan.: ibid.

 

WEEK FIVE: “Newcomers” and Challenges to the Republic

Tues., 1 Feb.: Immigration: Thomas Bell, Out of This Furnace, 1-60

Thu., 3 Feb.: Urbanization: Bell, 60-117

Fri., 4 Feb.: ibid.

 

WEEK SIX: Responses to Disorder (and “New World Order”)

Tues., 8 Feb.: Industrialism and a New Work Force: Bell, 119-179

Thu, 10 Feb.: Progressivism: Reform and Restraint: Bell, 179-258 

Fri., 11 Feb.: From Republic to Empire & Beyond: * H. Allen Tupper Jr., Columbia’s War for Cuba (1898), 31-101; * Francis Brooks, “Objections to the President’s Proposed Subjugation of the Filipinos” (1899.) (Xerox to be handed out) *

 

WEEK SEVEN: Wars Foreign and Domestic

Tues., 15 Feb.: The Great War, the Great Backlash:

* George Creel, How We Advertised America (1920), 3-27, 99-116, 166-184. (Xerox to be handed out) *     

Thurs., 16 Feb.: Unionization and the Cossacks: Bell, 259-282; William Adler, Mollie’s Job, 19-52

Thu., 17 Feb.: MIDTERM EXAM

               *** MID-SEMESTER BREAK: 21 Feb.-27 Feb. ***

WEEK EIGHT: Economic Crisis

Tues., 1 March: The Roaring Twenties (The First Culture Wars): Adler, 53-69

Thu, 3 March: Depression (Where Are Those Chickens, Mr. Hoover?): Bell, 283-341

Fri., 4 March: The New Deal I: Bell, 342-end

 

WEEK NINE: The World Remade

Tue., 8 March: The New Deal II: Adler, 70-80

Thurs., 10 March: World War II: Adler, 81-111

Fri., 11 March: Better Dread Than Red? (Joe McCarthy, Martin Dies, and Other Friends of Freedom): Adler, 112-136

 

WEEK TEN: Civil Rights

Tues., 15 March: Post-War Affluence …: Adler., 139-193; Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, 11-79

Thurs., 17 March: … and Anxiety: Civil Rights, Civil Wrongs: Moody, 80-145

Fri., 18 March: Civil Rights II (The Dream Deferred): Moody, 146-214

 

WEEK ELEVEN:

Tues., 22 March: JFK’s Camelot and LBJ’s Great Society: Adler, 193-203; Moody, 217-285

Thurs., 24 March: Vietnam: Moody, 286-344 

Fri., 25 March: Turbulent Late ‘60s and Early ‘70s: Adler, 203-217; Moody, 345-end.

 

WEEK TWELVE:

Tues., 29 March: Malaise (Late ‘70s Style): Adler, 218-241

Thurs., 31 March: Mourning in America? Reagan and All That: Adler, 241-286 

Fri., 1 April: America in the ‘90s and Beyond: Adler, 287-end

WEEK THIRTEEN:

Tues., 5 April: A Word (OR Three) About 9-11 and “Blowback” (The U.S. and the World in the 21st Century) 

SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS. Review for First Semester’s Final Exam. Bring me your questions!

 

**** If we don’t quite make it to 2005, we can have an optional end-of-course session at Piper’s to catch up to where we should be.

 

 

 

Boxer Stephan Hnat, circa 1905. Passaic, N.J.