Week 12

During the last three class periods, we covered the Vietnam Era, the Nixon years and their aftermath.  Here are the relevant questions addressed in lectures; I am assuming that students were able to devote some effort to reading about the period from 1965 to the present, but for the purposes of the final test, you should be able to discuss the following issues:

1. What were the goals of the United States in Vietnam from 1954-1975?  What major factors made an American victory an impossibility?
2. Why did the Nixon administration pursue a policy of detente during the late 1960s and early 1970s?  In what respects did these efforts find success?  What objections did critics raise about detente?
3. What major factors led to the Watergate break-in, and how did Watergate bring an end to the Nixon administration?
4. What were the major arguments raised by the so-called “New Right” during the 1970s?  Why did conservatives believe the US had strayed from its “mission?”

Week 11: Civil Rights and Liberal Reform, 1954-1968

During the next two class periods, we’ll examine the civil rights movement and try to understand its relationship to the political liberalism of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as well as to other reform movements of the early 1960s (including those focused on women’s rights, the environment, etc.)  The Digital History chapter “America in Ferment” offers a solid overview of the material, thought its coverage extends a bit farther (at least in terms of time frame) than we probably will in class; other textbooks will usually address these issues in either a single chapter or parts of several chapters, so adjust your readings accordingly.

Our major questions will include:

1. What significant events and circumstances launched the civil rights struggles of the 1950s?  In what ways were these early confrontations successful?  In what ways were they not?
2. What role did civil disobedience and grassroots activism play in the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s?  How did the Kennedy and Johnson administrations respond to these renewed demands for political equality from African Americans?
3. What factors helped to produce a new movement for women’s rights?  In what ways did women’s experiences in the workplace and the home provide a spur for new demands for equality?  For other women, how did participation in the civil rights and student movements push them toward a more defined feminist position?
4. What were the most important goals of Kennedy’s “New Frontier” and Johnson’s “Great Society?”

Week 10: The Cold War, 1945-1965

This week’s material will cover the international and domestic history of the Cold War from the end of World War II through the escalation of the American war in Vietnam.  We will survey the major issues that drove the United States and Soviet Union into competition with one another; the strategy adopted by the Truman administration and subsequent presidencies to “contain” the power of the USSR; the most important Cold War successes and failures; and the implications of the Cold War for political and economic life in the US. The Digital History sections on “Postwar America” are OK but aren’t especially good on economic growth during the 1950s.  If you’re relying on Digital History, you are encouraged to find other readings as a supplement; all of the texts on reserve at the library have chapters that cover the social and cultural world of the 1950s.

Major question will include:

1. How did the Cold War originate?  What were the chief sources of conflict between the two superpowers?
2. What was “containment,” and how did the Truman administration implement this new policy prior to the Korean War?
3. Why did the US intervene in Korea, and what were the results of that war?
4. How did the struggle with the Soviet Union prompt the United States to act in regions of the world outside Europe (i.e., Latin America, the Middle East, Asia)?
5. What was the “Red Scare” during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and what were its effects on American political life?
6. To what extent did Americans enjoy a “culture of abundance” after the second World War?  What were the most important symbols of affluence during these years?

Week 9: WWII

It’s hard to believe we’ll actually reach the end of the second World War before next Monday’s test, but we’re going to try.  We have a good bit of detail left to cover from the 1930s, however, and so I suspect that’s where the test material will cut off.  In other words, there’s a strong likelihood the second test will not include material from World War II.  Even so, you’ll need to read about WWII and stay on track with the schedule proposed in the syllabus.  At some point, we’ll have to squeeze everything in.

Digital History is once again unavailable — or at least it has been most of today — so this would be a good opportunity to broaden the scope of your reading, if you haven’t already.  I have numerous texts on reserve at the library (just ask for the list for HIST 132); beyond that, it’s simply not difficult to find published material on World War II.  Our classroom approach to the war will — as with other wars discussed in this course — have almost nothing to say about individual battles, military strategy, great generals and so forth.  Along the way, we will talk in broad strokes about how the war began and how it drew in the US, and we’ll examine how exactly the US fought in the war and contributed to the defeat of Japan, Germany and Italy.  But I’m much more interested in examining how World War II transformed the history of the US by securing its status as the preeminent global power; by providing new economic and political opportunities for African Americans; by opening new avenues for certain women to participate in the labor force; and by pushing the nation to develop an economy that would serve as the basis for full recovery from the Depression.

Major questions will include:

1. Why did the United States abandon its policy of neutrality toward the European war?  What did it mean for the US to serve as the “arsenal of democracy?”
2. Why did Japan attack the United States, and what were the effects of that attack?
3. How did the US mobilize the nation for war?
4. What effects did the war have on the lives of African Americans?  What were its effects for women?
5. In what ways did the US contribute to the defeat of Germany and Italy?
6. What factors led the US to victory against Japan?

Week 8: The Great Depression

After mopping up some leftover material from the 1920s, we’ll spend this week considering the causes and effects of the Great Depression.  Beyond exploring the factors leading to the crash of 1929, we’ll devote some time to surveying the political response to the Depression, particularly the New Deal supplied by the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  We will consider the successes and limitations of FDR’s program, and we’ll plot out the major historical events that send the world once again into a cataclysmic outburst of violence.  Digital History is solid enough on this period, though you should consult other sources as needed or desired.

Major questions for the week will include:

1. What were the factors that produced the Crash of 1929?
2. How did President Hoover respond, and why were his efforts inadequate?
3. What did the Depression mean for the lives of ordinary Americans?
4. What were the major components of Roosevelt’s recovery program in 1933-34, and what were their successes and limitations?
5. What were the major components of Roosevelt’s “Second New Deal,” and what were their successes and limitations?

Week 7: The 1920s

This week will focus on the years between World War I and the onset of the great depression.  After finishing up with leftover material from the Great War, we’ll spend our time looking at the politics and culture of one of the most interesting — and misunderstood — decades of the 20th century.  The 1920s was a decade of rapid social change, symbolized by the growing importance of automobiles and mass consumer culture to the national economy; the emergence of a vibrant African American literary, artistic and musical expression in Harlem and other Northern cities; and the formation of energetic youth cultures, including the (surprisingly brief) popularity of the “flapper.” The decade is also marked by fierce cultural conflict, as Americans battled over immigration, alcohol, race, science and religion among numerous other points of tension.

As with most units in this course, this week’s material will be covered by any textbook; the relevant Digital History sections are fairly good on the 1920s, though you’ll need to read the first three sections of the readings on the 1930s to understand the basics behind the crash of 1929.

Major questions for the week will include:

1. How did the political life of the 1920s represent a turn away from progressivism?
2. How did the new freedoms of the decade challenge older ideas about race and gender?
3. How did urban and rural life clash during the 1920s?  In what ways did many American react against “modern” sensibilities?
4. What were the major factors behind the crash of 1929?

Some documents:

1. Warren Harding’s “Readjustment” speech
2. A flapper defends herself and her friends
3. A manual for the Klansmen
4. An editorial urging the nation to “Keep on Guarding the Gates” against immigrants

Week 6: The Great War

Apologies for not getting these questions and reading guide posted sooner; the insanity of Monday’s move plus the lack of internet at our new house are almost entirely to blame. In any event, as the syllabus promises, this week is devoted to the first World War. Your background reading should be fairly self-explanatory — read what you can on the American experience with that conflict. The Digital History chapter is OK, though you’ll be served better by finding a regular text or examining one of those on reserve.

Questions for the week:

1. What were the major causes of World War I, and how did Woodrow hope to prevent those causes from taking root again?
2. Why did the United States pursue a policy of neutrality from 1914-1917? Why did the policy of neutrality fail?
3. How did World War I highlight the contradictions between the ideals of the United States and the political realities for many Americans (including African Americans and women)?
4. What reasons did Woodrow Wilson eventually offer in promoting American involvement in WWI?
5. How did World War I affect civil liberties in the United States?
6. Why did the proposed League of Nations fail to gain political support in the US?

Sample Test Questions

Here are some sample test responses with explanations for how I’ll be evaluating them.

The longer essay question will resemble this:

Compare and contrast the economic and political condition of Freedpersons, industrial workers, and white migrants in the West during the latter third of the 19th century (1865-1900). What kinds of opportunity did each group enjoy in the new world emerging after the Civil War? What limitations did they face? How successfully were they able to address the problems they faced?

Week 5 (Feb. 16-18)

This week, we’ll do our best to introduce the Progressive Era, a term we use (for better or worse) to describe a variety of reformist movements that reshaped local, state and national politics from the 1890s through the end of the first World War. Textbooks usually devote an entire chapter to progressivism, so those of you with textbooks should have no trouble finding the right material to read for the week. The American Promise — several copies of which are on reserve at the library — has an excellent chapter that covers the movement. The relevant section of Digital History is tolerable but lacks some important areas of discussion. The Wikipedia entry on the Progressive Era is complete crap and should be avoided. This is a week for which I’d strongly encourage students to use a conventional textbook for background reading.

Questions for the week:

1. What major problems did Progressive reformers identify in American life around the turn of the century?  What solutions did they propose?
2. What arguments did female reformers raise to explain why their efforts were needed?  How did these arguments provide support to those seeking women’s voting rights?
3. In what ways did Theodore Roosevelt put the ideas of progressivism into action?  How did his time in office represent a shift in the role of the president?
4. By the onset of World War I, what major victories had American progressives achieved?
5. In what ways were progressive “reforms” shaped by racial prejudice, nativism and/or skepticism toward more radical solutions to the nation’s industrial problems?

Some documents for the week:

1. Florence Kelley investigates sweatshop conditions in Boston
2. Lewis Hine uses photography to document the problem of child labor
3. A reporter’s horrific account of the 1911 Triangle Fire
4. Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural address

Week 4 (February 9-11)

This week, we take a look at the transformative decade of the 1890s, a decade that brought (once again) major economic depression; political turmoil with the brief rise of the Populist party; astonishing degrees of racial violence as the Southern states imposed new restrictions on blacks; and new military and economic ventures for the United States, which was rapidly assuming a place among the world’s traditional powers. If you’re working with a conventional textbook, read the material that covers the Depression, Populism, racial segregation and the Spanish-American War. Usually this is covered in a single chapter, though others might divide these topics between two chapters. Digital History appears to be functioning again, so you might look at this section on the politics of the 1890s, this one on racial segregation, as well as this one on foreign affairs. (This latter section extends beyond the time period we’re looking at, but it’s worth reading anyway.  Overall, these three sections are pretty good, though I always recommend additional reading.  For example, the Wikipedia entry on the 1896 presidential election is excellent and might be worth a look, since we’ll probably have to blow through it in class….)

Questions for the week will include:

1. What problems did farmers face during the depression of the 1890s, and how did they seek to remedy those problems through organized action?
2. What major issues motivated the Populist Party during the mid-1890s?  How did those concerns shape the 1896 presidential election?
3. How did the political and social status of African Americans worsen during the 1880s and 1890s?
4. What did the Plessy v. Ferguson decision rule, and why was this case so important?
5. What broad factors motivated the United States to become an imperial power during the 1890s?
6. What were the origins and outcomes of the Spanish-American War?

Some documents:

1. The Populist Party platform of 1892
2. An account of a Georgia lynching
3. A senator from Indiana likes the idea of being an empire
4. Mark Twain writes satirically about the Blessings of Civilization.