Department of History and Political Science
Course Syllabus, Spring 2009
HS 202: History of the
Instructor: Robert
Camilleri
Office: HU 016
Office Hours: Monday,
6:00 - 7:00, and by appointment.
Office Phone: (240)
567-5242.
E-Mail: rcamille@montgomerycollege.edu.
Course Information
Schedule: Monday:
7:30-9:30, Wednesday: 7:30-9:30.
Location: SW 114C
Course Description
This course surveys American history from the end of the
Civil War through modern times. It will
explore a society experiencing revolutionary changes in society, economy, and
politics during the eras of Civil War, Reconstruction, western expansion,
industrialization, the rise of the cities, the Progressive era, the Great
Depression, the age of fascism, the Cold War, the cultural protest movements,
the War on Terror, and the development of modern
Course Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:
Required Text
James West Davidson et. al., Nation of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the
In addition, additional readings will be assigned for each week (see below).
Course
Requirements
Class Participation and Attendance: Students are expected to attend class and have performed all of the required readings prior to the beginning of the class session. Students are expected to contribute thoughtfully to class discussions of sources and issues presented for discussion, and to actively participate in ensuring their understanding of major themes and events by asking relevant questions during lectures. Student grades on this component will be determined by attendance, contributions to discussions, attentive consideration of fellow students, and contributions to a positive learning environment. More than two unexcused absences will result in a lower final grade. Official documentation, such as a doctor’s note, will be required for excused absences. Absent students are responsible for delivering assignments by the beginning of class on the due date. Students missing exams will not be allowed to take the exam at a later time unless they have previously made an arrangement with the professor and the absence is for a properly excused reason. Any students arriving late without having received a prior excusal from the professor, or students behaving disruptively in class, will be considered absent.
Writing Assignments: Students will be responsible for writing two concise, well-organized examinations of primary sources. Students will write a two-page analysis of a source of their choosing from among the documents assigned as part of the discussion portions of the class sessions. One assignment will be due before March 9, and will examine one of the sources assigned between February 2 and the due date. The second assignment will be due by April 15, and will examine one source assigned between March 11 and the due date.
Paper: Students will be given two primary source documents and will write one three to five page essay comparing the sources, contextualizing them in their historical era, and assessing them in relation to broad historical themes and interpretive frameworks. Papers will be due March 25. Students wishing to turn in drafts for instructor review prior to submission should do so no later than March 23.
Exams: There will be a midterm and a final exam. Exam questions will include material from the textbook, class lectures, assigned readings, and class discussions. The exam will consist of multiple choice questions, short answer identifications, and an essay. No make-up exams will be given without prior instructor approval or a documented medical excuse after the exam.
Grading
Class Attendance and Participation: 10%
Writing assignments: 20%
Paper: 20%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
Grading Scale:
A= 100-90
B= 89-80
C= 79-70
D= 69-60
F= 59 and below
Course Policies
Academic Honesty: Plagiarism and cheating are serious offences and will not be tolerated. Those caught using the work of another as their own will receive an “F” on the assignment or exam in which the dishonesty occurred and may receive an “F” for the course. Students are expected to understand and comply with college regulations that prohibit academic dishonesty. For information on academic standards, please consult the Student Code of Conduct under the heading, “Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct.” To avoid plagiarism, be sure that you properly acknowledge your use of another’s work in your papers. This includes any material gained from books, articles, lecture notes, or other sources. When directly quoting from such material, you must use quotation marks and provide the proper bibliographic citation. When paraphrasing, you also need to provide appropriate acknowledgement of the source of information through proper citation. If you have any question about how to properly cite a source, please see the instructor.
Support Services: A
student who may need an accommodation due to a disability should make an
appointment to see me during my office hours.
A letter from Disability Support Services (DSS) authorizing your
accommodations will be needed. The DSS
office is located in the Counseling and
Students requiring assistance with writing should visit the
Writing and
Classroom Climate: Civility is essential to a constructive learning environment. Lively debate is expected and encouraged, as is respect for divergent opinions and beliefs. Students are expected to speak one at a time in a civil manner of speech. All cell phones and other electronic devices except for laptops should be turned off and stowed at the beginning of class. Students using laptops must limit their activity to note taking, any other activity is prohibited and considered disruptive. Talking and other disruptive activity is prohibited.
Student Email: Students will be expected to regularly check
their e-mail accounts for important communications regarding class issues. When
contacting me by e-mail, please use your
Cancellation of
Classes: In the event of inclement
weather or other incidents that may result in the cancellation of class, public
service announcements will be provided to local radio and television stations. Check the
Syllabus: The instructor reserves the right to
modify the syllabus as the semester progresses if it becomes necessary.
Class Schedule
February 2, 2009: Introduction: The
No
February 4, 2009:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html.
Andrew Johnson: Veto of the First Reconstruction Act:
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1851-1875/reconstruction/veto.htm
Thaddeus Stevens on Reconstruction:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1851-1875/reconstruction/steven.htm
Alexander Stephens on reconstruction:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1851-1875/reconstruction/stephens.htm
February 9, 2009:
The Strange Death of Reconstruction
Hayes’s Inaugural Address:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres35.html
Blanche Kelso Bruce, Speech in the Senate, March 31, 1876:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reconstruction/bruce.htm
February 11: Toward an Industrial Order - the Gilded Age
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/P/jg20/speeches/garfield.htm
Plessy vs.
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/plessy/plessy.htm
February 16, 2009: President’s
Day, No Class
February 18, 2009: The Empire of Free Labor
Populist Party Platform, 1892:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reform/populist.htm
“Coin”
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reform/harvey.htm
James Laughlin, Response to “Coin”
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reform/laughlin.htm
Samuel Gompers, Letter on Labor in Industrial Society to Judge Peter Grosscup.
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reform/gompers.htm
William
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/reform/bryan.htm
February 23, 2009:
1888: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1888&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1892: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1892&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1896: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1896&off=0&elect=0&f=0
John Hay to Andrew D. White, First Open Door Note:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1876-1900/foreignpolicy/opendr.htm
February 25, 2009:
Defining Industrial
Joseph Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Chapter 1, Primary Source Investigator, Chapter 21.
W.E.B. DuBois: The Souls of Black Folks, Chapter VI- Of the Training of Black Men: http://www.bartleby.com/114/4.html
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, Primary Source Investigator Chapter 22.
Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary, Primary Source Investigator Chapter 22.
March 2, 2009: Exam I
March 4, 2009: Politics and Geopolitics in the Progressive Era
William Howard Taft: Dollar Diplomacy, http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/taft2.htm
Woodrow Wilson: The
March 9, 2009: World War I and the Birth of the Modern World
Last Date to Turn in
Writing Assignment #1
Map of
Map of
Map of
March 11, 2009: The New Order and the Economic Boom
Warren G. Harding, Speech at
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/chapter1.html
Presidential Election data:
1912: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1912&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1916: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1916&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1920: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1920&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1928: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1928&off=0&elect=0&f=0
March 16, 2009: The Great Depression and the Beginning of the Global Crisis
Graph- American Trade During the Great Depression: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/2008/us_world_trade_participation_feb08.jpg
Herbert Hoover, Nomination Address, August 11, 1932: http://americanhistory.about.com/library/docs/blhooverspeech1932.htm
Franklin Roosevelt, The Forgotten Man, April 17, 1932: http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1932c.htm
March 18, 2009:
Adolf
Hitler, Speech at the
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler013041.html
March 23, 2009: The World at War
Last date to turn in
paper drafts
Empire of
Germany- Declaration of War, December 11, 1941: http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/germany-declares.htm
Franklin Roosevelt, Day of Infamy Speech, December 8, 1941.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infamy_Speech
March 25, 2009: The Cold War and the Postwar Consensus
Paper Due
Winston Churchill, “Iron Curtain” Speech, 1946: http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/Churchill.html
Joseph Stalin, Interview, Pravda, March 14, 1946: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946stalin.html
Harry S Truman, Truman Doctrine: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1947TRUMAN.html
Mao Zedong, All Reactionaries are Paper Tigers, November 19, 1957 http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/RPT57.html.
March 30, 2009: Subversion,
Consensus, and the Social Revolution of the 1950s
April 1, 2009: The Civil Rights Movement
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963: http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html
Lyndon Johnson, The Great Society, Mat 22, 1964: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/lbjthegreatsociety.htm
April 6, 2009:
Gerald Ford, Pardon of Richard Nixon, September 8, 1974: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_crisis.html
Presidential Election data:
1960: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1960&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1964: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1964&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1968: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1968&off=0&elect=0&f=0
1972: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1972&off=0&elect=0&f=0
April 8, 2009: The Age of Reagan and the End of the Cold War
Jimmy Carter, Crisis of Confidence Speech, July 15, 1979: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_crisis.html
Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981: http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/speeches/first.asp
April 13, 2009: Globalization and the War on Terror
Last date to turn in
Writing Assignment #2
Osama Bin Laden, “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places,” August 1996: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html
George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, January , 2005: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050120-1.html.
April 15, 2009: Exam II
