HISTORY 202 United States Survey, part two, the Nineteenth Century

This course will cover the history of the United States from roughly 1825 to roughly 1910. Major topics will include the territorial expansion of the nation, slavery and anti-slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the coming of large-scale industrialism, and the ways in which the nation responded to unprecedented economic power in the early decades of the twentieth century. The format of the course will involve lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays by Professor Mohr and smaller required discussion sessions that will meet once a week, the latter led separately by graduate teaching assistants. There will be a first-half exam, a second-half exam, two short papers, plus a number of quizzes and map exercises in your discussion sections. Your grade will be determined 20% by the first-half exam, 20% by the second-half exam, 20% by the first paper, 20% by the second paper, and 20% by the quizzes, map exercises, and participation in your discussion section.

Required reading will include the following materials, which have been ordered in the UO Bookstore and made available in a course packet:

Divine, et. al., America: Past and Present, Vol B
Woloch, ed., Muller v. Oregon
Adams and Adams, Chapters of Erie
Three articles in a course packet (Anbinder, Faust, and Lebergott)

What follows is a schedule of classes and assignments.

Week I:
Jan 06: The US in 1825
Jan 08: Legal Foundations of the Early Republic
Discussion sections: introduction and lectures

Week III:
UJan 20: Territorial Expansion and the Mexican War

H Jan 22: Political Crisis of the 1850s
Reading: Divine, America, 391-421.
Discussion sections: textbook and lectures Paper due on "From Famine to Five Points"

Week IV:
U Jan 27: Election of 1860 and Secession
H Jan 29: "Causes" of the Civil War
Reading: Divine, America, 423-429; and begin next week's reading
Discussion sections: textbook and lectures

Week V:
U Feb 03: Civil War, part 1
H Feb 05: Civil War, part 2
Reading: Divine, America, 429-452; Faust, "Altars of Sacrifice"; and Lebergott, "Why the South Lost"
Discussion sections: the Civil War

Week VI:
U Feb 10: First-half exam
H Feb 12: Reconstruction and the Fourteenth Amendment
Reading: Divine, America, 455-462
Discussion sections: no meetings this week

Week VII:
U Feb 17: Radical Reconstruction
H Feb 19: The End of Reconstruction
Reading: Divine, America, 462-487; and begin next week's reading
Discussion sections: textbook, lectures, and midterm results

Week VIII:
U Feb 24: Native Americans
H Feb 26: Immigration and Labor
Reading: Divine, America, 489-517, 697-700; Woloch, Muller v. Oregon, 93-191, and Adams and Adams, Chapters of Erie, 1-42, 95-100, 137-193
Discussion sections: women and work in the industrial world

Week IX:
U Mar 02: Corporations and the Government
H Mar 04: From Political Protest to Political Stability in the 1890s
Reading: Divine, America, 519-609
Discussion sections: textbook and lectures Paper due on Muller v. Oregon or Chapters of Erie

Week X:
U Mar 09: Progressivism
H Mar 11: Second-half exam
Reading: Divine, America, 611-696
Discussion sections: review for final

Back to top