History 463/563: American Economic History--The Great Depression
Daniel
Pope
Class meets 10:00 - 11:20 MW
Office: 331
McKenzie
in McKenzie 123
Ext.:
6-4015
Office Hours: Tues., 9:00-11:00,
E-mail to dapope@uoregon.edu
Wed., 3:30-4:30
This syllabus is on the web at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dapope/463syl--fall05.htm
Last revised 11/28/2005
Course Description:
This course is offered under the generic title of "Topics in American Economic History," and the Great Depression of the 1930s was surely an economic event of major proportions. However, it was more than that, and we will look at some of the political, social and cultural ramifications of economic collapse. This is a History course, and though I will make use of some (fairly elementary) economic concepts, no coursework in Economics is assumed or required. In fact there are also no History prerequisites, although I will assume that students know some basic facts about twentieth-century American history. If you find that I'm making references to people, events, etc. that you don't know, please inform me. It's a safe bet that others in the class will also want me to fill in the background more.
For the most part, the course will take a chronological approach,
but with several topical emphases. It will stress the following questions:
1. What caused the economic catastrophe?
What role did the stock market crash play? Was it the result of misguided policies
or fundamental structural problems? And what made the economic depression last so
long?
2. What challenges and what opportunities did working-class Americans face during the Depression? How did they respond? What role did race and racism play in shaping the actions and accomplishments of labor during the 1930s and in following years?
3. The Depression was a national (in fact, world-wide) phenomenon, but it had regional repercussions. How was it experienced in this part of the country?
4. The Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal shaped much of American politics and society during and after World War II as well. How did the legacy of the 1930s affect the nation during the war and in the long post-war boom? Why (and when) did the "New Deal Order" (as some have called it) decline?
Requirements :
For undergraduates:
1. A short (3-5 page) paper on perceptions of
economic collapse. Instructions will follow soon. Due Wednesday, Oct. 19,and
worth about 20% of your course grade. Link to instructions.
2. An in-class midterm exam, Monday, Oct.
31, worth about 20% of your course grade. Link to midterm
essays!
3. A short (3-5 page) paper due Wednesday,
Nov. 30 (note new due date), and worth about 20% of your course grade. Link to paper instructions!
4. A final exam. An in-class and a
take-home option will be available. You may choose one or the other. The
in-class exam is scheduled for 10:15 on Monday, December 5. The take-home
will be due at my office, 331 McKenzie, by Wednesday, December 7 at Noon.
Worth about 40% of your course grade.
NEW: Link to
final exam questions and instructions
For graduate students:
1. A research paper or historiographical essay
of approximately 10-15 pages, to substitute for the short papers and midterm described in
the undergraduate requirements. The paper will be worth approximately 40% of your
course grade. We must consult about and agree on your topic by Oct. 24. A
brief prospectus that states your topic, lists your main research sources, outlines the
questions or hypotheses you are investigating, and gives a tentative outline of the
paper's structure is due Nov. 16. The paper itself is due Wednesday, Nov. 30 at
class time.
2. A final exam, as described in the
undergraduate requirements above, also worth about 40% of your grade.
3. I want to consult very soon with the
graduate students in the course to set up some additional meeting times during the
term. I'll assign some (short) additional readings, based on student interests, for
us to discuss. Preparation and participation in these discussions and in the regular
class sessions will be worth about 20% of your grade.
Readings:
I have ordered four books at the UO Bookstore.
They will be supplemented by some briefer readings which will be available either on the
web or as photocopies. The required books are:
Thomas Hall and J. David Ferguson, The Great
Depression
Colin Gordon, Major Problems in
American History 1920-1945
Kevin Starr, Endangered Dreams: The
Great Depression in California
Studs Terkel, Hard Times
Class Sessions: Shortly before or after each class session, I'll
link it below to the web outline and notes that I'll display in class for that
session. I suggest you bookmark this syllabus for ready access.
Sept. 26-28: Background to Collapse
Sept. 26: Introduction / World War I and
its Unsettling Settlement
Sept. 28: The 1920s--"Permanent
Prosperity" or Prelude to Disaster?
Readings: Hall and Ferguson,
chapters 1-4; Robert McElvaine, "The Great Depression in Historical
Perspective," in Gordon, pp.2-10.
Oct. 3-12: The Crash and the Depression
Oct. 3: The Boom and the Crash
Oct. 5: Did the Crash Cause the
Depression? (If Not, What Did?)
Oct. 10: What Did Cause the Depression?/How
Did Herbert Hoover Respond?
Oct. 12: The Bonus Army--America at the
Bottom of the Depression / Was the Worldwide Depression "Made in America"?
Readings: Hall and Ferguson,
chapters 5-8; Gordon, chapter 7 ("Responding to the Crash"); Terkel, sections on
"The March" and "The Song"
Optional: Listen to a sound clip from Herbert
Hoover at http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/presidents/hoover.htm;
listen to Bing Crosby sing "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" at http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/~crosby/brother.html.
Oct. 17-26: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 1933-1935
Oct. 17: FDR and the
First Hundred Days
Oct. 19: Eleanor Roosevelt and
Other Women [FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE AT CLASS TIME!]
Oct. 24: From the First to the
Second Hundred Days Link to midterm
essays!
Oct. 26: 1934: A Year of
Crisis--Part One
Readings: Hall and Ferguson,
chapters 9-11; Gordon, chapter 11, pp.303-310 and 315-336; Terkel, "Concerning
the New Deal"
Optional: Read and/or listen to FDR's
first Inaugural Address, at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstinaugural.html.
October 31: Midterm Exam
Nov. 2-9: Radical Challenges, the Second New Deal 1935-1938, and Militant Unionism
Nov. 2: 1934: A Year of
Crisis--Part Two
Nov. 7: The CIO and Industrial
Union Organizing Link to second paper
instructions!
Nov. 9: Scottsboro: Race and
Radicalism in the New Deal
Readings: Gordon, chapter 11
(pp.311-314), chapters 12 and 13; Starr, chapters 3-5; Hall and Ferguson, chapter 11;
Terkel, "Bonnie Laboring Boy", "Three Strikes", "Scarlet Banners
and Novenas", "The Doctor, Huey and Mr. Smith."
Optional: Starr, chapters 1 and 2; read
and/or listen to Huey Long speech on his "Share Our Wealth" program at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5109/.
Nov. 14-16: Culture and Cultural Change in the Depression
Nov. 14: Some Aspects of
Depression Culture
Nov. 16: Consumer Culture in Hard Times
Readings: Terkel, "High Life"
and "The Fine and Lively Arts"; browse through some ads from the 1930s on the
"Ad*Access" website, http://odyssey.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/;
compare them with ads for similar products from the 1920s and/or World War II and the
post-war era.
Nov. 21-23: The Depression in California and the West
Nov. 21:
California: Endangered Dreams
Link to final
exam questions and instructions
Nov. 23: Video:
"Surviving the Dust Bowl"
Readings: Starr, chapters 8-12 (chapters
6, 7 and 13 are optional); Gordon, chapter 9, p.252; browse the excellent Dust Bowl
website at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html.
Optional: Browse an online history of
the United Farm Workers of America at http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/ufw.html.
Nov. 28-30: The Depression's Lingering Significance
Nov. 28: Public
Works, The Coming of War and the End of the Depression
Nov. 30: Lessons Learned and
Unlearned [SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE!]
Readings: Hall and Ferguson,
chapters 12-13; Gordon, chapter 14, pp.398-402, and chapter 15, pp.433-450; Terkel, pages
TBA.