HISTORY 203: HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: COURSE DESCRIPTION
Spring 2007 Daniel Pope
Lectures: 2:00-3:20 MW, 182 Lillis Office: 331 McKenzie
+ Weekly Discussion Section Ext. 6-4015
E-mail: dapope@uoregon.edu
Discussion section information, office hours and related information will be posted soon.
History 203 surveys the history of the United States from World War I (1914-1918) to the present. We will examine broad patterns of social, cultural and political change. At the same time, in the lectures I'll illustrate some of these broader patterns with weekly biographies of famous and not-so-famous Americans.
Most lectures will be in PowerPoint format. I'll post these PowerPoints on line shortly before each class session, but they are not meant as a substitute for class attendance. You will be able to link to each of them from the on-line version of this syllabus. The URL for this syllabus is http://www.uoregon.edu/~dapope/203syllabus--sp07.htm . I strongly suggest you bookmark the syllabus in your web browser.
Course Format and Requirements
The course will meet for lectures from 2:00-3:20 Mondays and Wednesdays. Attendance at the lectures is strongly recommended. You will be responsible for material covered in class sessions as well as the readings. In addition to the lectures, each of you has signed up for a one-hour discussion session each week. The discussion sessions will be an opportunity to review issues raised in the lectures and readings and to examine some topics in greater depth. Your discussion leader will also give you brief assignments each week. Attendance at discussion sections is required. We take attendance in sections.
Books: The following books should be available at the U of O Bookstore.
Used copies of some of them may be available in local used bookstores or on the web.
John Murrin and others, Liberty , Equality, Power . This is the textbook for the course. It was assigned this term for Hist 202 so used copies are likely to be widely available in town (as well as on the web). This spring, assignments will include chapters 23-31.
Jeffrey P. Moran, The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents
Karen R. Merrill, The Oil Crisis of 1973-1974: A Brief History with Documents (Either this book or the Jeffrey Moran book on the Scopes Trial will be the basis for your short paper, as explained below. Both of these books are quite short.)
Ken Ellingwood , Hard Line: Life and Death on the Mexican Border
The books by Moran , Merrill, and Ellingwood explore important aspects of American history and society in the twentieth century. You're likely to find them relevant to issues and concerns facing the United States today as well.
Requirements:
1. A short (3-5 page ) paper. You'll have a choice between writing on a topic dealing with The Scopes Trial (due April 30 ) or one concerning The Oil Crisis of 1973-74 (due May 23 ). Link to instructions for Scopes Trial paper here . Instructions for Oil Crisis paper will be posted soon.The paper will be worth 20% of your grade. If you do the Scopes Trial paper and are dissatisfied with your grade, you can also do the paper on The Oil Crisis of 1973-1974 . In that case, we will count the higher of the two paper grades and discard the other.
2. A midterm exam, in class, on Monday, May 7 . The midterm will be worth 20% of your exam.
3. Participation and assignments in your discussion session will be worth 20% of your grade.
4. A final exam. You'll have a choice between an in-class exam (scheduled for Monday, June 11 at 3:15 ) and a take-home, which will be due at the start of the in-class version but which can be submitted earlier. The final will be worth 40% of the grade. The final will cover the entire term's material but will emphasize topics covered after the midterm.
Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments:
Each week, a portion of one of the lectures will be devoted to a biographical portrait of a man or woman who exemplifies some important aspects of the era we are studying. Discussion sessions some weeks will devote time to the biographical figure; there may be a brief document to read about the "person of the week."
April 2: Introduction: America and the "Great War"
April 4: The 1920's and a New Kind of Hero--Charles A. Lindbergh
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , ch.23 and pp.870-892 of ch.24; read the New York Times account of Lindbergh's flight: "Lindbergh Does It!" , from the New York Times, May 21, 1927. Optional: Watch a few minutes of a newsreel of Lindbergh's flight and his return to New York .
Start reading Moran, The Scopes Trial . If you're going to do your paper on this book, you need to read the whole book. (Scopes Trial paper instructions here. ) If you don't write your paper on it, you will need to read Parts One and Three (pp.1-72 and 171-214).
April 9: From Boom to Depression: The Stock Market Crash and the Economic Crisis
April 11: The New Deal: Crisis Politics and Idealistic Reform--Eleanor Roosevelt
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , pp.852-870 of ch. 24 and pp.893-913 of ch. 25. Keep reading The Scopes Trial.
April 16: A New Deal for People of Color?
April 18: Huey P. Long--Radical and/or Demagogue? / From "Isolationism" to Pearl Harbor
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , pp.913-934 of ch.25.; Read an excerpt from a Huey Long "Share our Wealth" radio speech , 1935. You can also listen to the audio of the speech at this site (recommended). Keep reading The Scopes Trial.
April 23: World War II: "The Good War"?
April 25: From War to Cold War / An "Old Soldier" in War and Cold War--Douglas MacArthur
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , ch.26 and pp.976-990 of ch.27. By now you should have completed reading Jeffrey Moran, The Scopes Trial .
April 30: The Post-War Boom: Americans as a "People of Plenty" SCOPES TRIAL PAPER DUE AT CLASS TIME!
May 2: The Cold War and Domestic Anti-Communism-- Paul Robeson
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power, pp.990-1011 of ch.27 and pp.1012-1034 of ch. 28.
May 7: MIDTERM EXAM
May 9: The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement--Bob Moses
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , pp.1034-1055 of ch.28; listen to Bob Moses describe registering African American voters in Mississippi in the early 1960s. (Go to http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/moses.html and click on the link at the bottom, "Hear Bob Moses Describe the Greenwood Voter Registration Project" to listen in RealAudio.) [This week's reading assignment will not be required for the midterm exam but will be required for the final.]
Start reading Karen Merrill, The Oil Crisis of 1973-1974 . If you're doing your paper on this book, you need to read the whole book. If you've already done the Scopes Trial paper, you're responsible for Part One (Introduction) plus pp.29-72, 86-112 and 124-157.
May 14: The Sixties as a Surprise
May 16: Vietnam --American Loses a War/ A Protesting Physician--Dr. Benjamin Spock
Read: The American Story, ch. 30, pp.985-1004. Liberty, Equality, Power , ch.29.
Keep reading The Oil Crisis of 1973-1974 (Papers on this book are due May 23.)
May 21: The Rises and Falls of Richard Nixon
May 23: Struggles for Social Justice/A Farmworker Leader--Dolores Huerta OIL CRISIS PAPER DUE AT CLASS TIME !
Read: Liberty , Equality, Power , ch.30; read "Sex and Caste," a 1965 statement by Casey Hayden and Mary King--an early document of the modern women's movement.
Start reading Ken Ellingwood, Hard Line: Life and Death on the Mexican Border
May 28: MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY—NO CLASS SESSION
May 30: An Age of Limits/A New "Nation of Immigrants"
Read: Liberty, Equality, Power , pp.1134-1152 of ch.31.
June 4: The "Reagan Revolution"/ A "family" biography--Casey Hayden-Tom Hayden-Jane Fonda-Ted Turner
June 6: The U.S. as Superpower: Strength and Its Limits/Special Mystery Guest Biographical Presentation
Read : Liberty , Equality, Power , pp.1152-1179 of ch.31; excerpts from Colin Powell's 1992 article on the "Powell Doctrine." Finish reading Ken Ellingwood, Hard Line .
June 11: 3:15 p.m. in-class final exam. If you choose the take-home final exam option, it is due at this time or earlier.
History 203 Syllabus--Spring 2007 http://www.uoregon.edu/~dapope/203syllabus--sp07.htm