History 1302: United States History From 1877

Trinity Valley Community College Syllabus

Instructor: Dr. Marianne Leeper

Required Text= book:

Give Me Liberty! An American His= tory by Eric Foner, Second Edition, ISBN: 978-0-393-92944-7 (hardcover)

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Course Descri= ption:

This course is an introduction to the political, social, economic a= nd cultural history of the United States since 1877. It begins with the comple= tion of reconstruction and the expanding settlement of the West. It continues wi= th events that have occurred down to the present: new social and industrial problems, the rise of progressivism in the twentieth century, the United St= ates emergence as a world power, World War I, the reaction to it and the New Dea= l, World War II and contemporary American occurrences.

Give Me Liberty! An American His= tory is an event-based narrative that is enriched throughout by the theme of American freedom. It shows students how the mean= ings of freedom have changed during the course of American history and how the limits of freedom have expanded and contracted in response to social, political, cultural, and economic events.

Historical analysis of the changing boundaries of American freedom highlights the efforts of social and political groups—especially Afri= can Americans, women, ethnic minorities, and the working class—to broaden access to freedom in its many dimensions. The theme of American freedom motivates citizens by showing them that freedom, a birthright for some Americans, has for others been only partially won after much effort and sacrifice. This course will demonstrate that the preservation of freedom demands vigilance and a firm knowledge of our history.

Core Curricul= um Intellectual Competencies:

· = Analyze a= nd interpret a variety of printed materials – books, documents and artic= les – at a college level.

· = Use techn= ology to gather and interpret historical information.

· = Possess sufficient literary skills of writing and reading – at a college leve= l.

· = Think and analyze at a critical level.

Course Requir= ements:

This course is based on a series of readings, exams, and Inter= net activities. To be successful in the course, it will be necessary for = you to complete the Internet activities and exams before the posted deadlines a= nd keep up with assigned readings. It is extremely important that you ha= ve constant access to a reliable (primary and backup) computer with Internet access. Having technical problems, especially last-minute technical problem= s, is no excuse for submitting assignments after the posted deadlines. The exams may consist of multiple choic= e, true/false, matching, short answer identification and/or essay questions. If you have questions about the exam format, please feel free to ask. You will have a two hour time limit on each exam. ALL EXAMS MUST BE TAKEN IN A TESTING CENTER. It your responsibility to contact your testing center to make exam arrangements. Please make arrangements with your testing center at least one w= eek before you take your exam. Each exam has a deadline date. Please refer to t= he Exam Deadlines section below for specific dates.

The only TVCC testing facility that allows the use of outside aides is the Athens Testing Center= . For students who are intending to take advantage of the opportunity to use textbooks on exams, you must test in the Testing Center in Athens during th= eir normal business hours (8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. – however, you MUST arrive no later than 3:30 p.m. to begin testing). Should a student choose to test at an alternate testing site (at all LRC/Libraries), they will NOT be allowed to use their textbooks or any outside aides.

Please DO NOT wait un= til the last minute to complete assignments. However, if you choose to wait until the last min= ute, please understand that unexpected events which arise at the last min= ute will not be accepted as excuses for completing exams or submitting assignments a= fter the posted deadlines. Exams and/or assignments submitted after the posted deadlines will not be accepted.

Each Internet Activity is worth 50 points. At least ten points will be deducted each day the Internet Activity is late. If it (Inte= rnet Activity) is submitted five days after the deadline, it will not be accepte= d.

There are 15 multiple= choice quizzes and 2 true/false quizzes that you are required to take. Each quiz is worth 20 points. Each correct answer is worth 1 point. Total quiz points po= ssible are 300.

**Quizzes are due when corresponding Unit Exams are due. For example, Unit I covers chapters 16-18. Exam I deadline dates are TBA. Multiple choice quizzes 16, 17, and 18 are d= ue by TBA. Unit II covers chapters 19-21. Exam II deadline dates are TBA. Multiple choice quizzes 19, 20, an= d 21, and true/false quiz 19 are due by TBA. Unit III covers chapters 22-24. Exam= III deadline dates TBA. Multiple choice quizzes 22, 23, and 24, and true/false = quiz 22 are due by TBA. Unit IV covers chapters 25-28. Exam IV deadline dates are TBA. Multiple choice quizzes 25, 26, 27, and 28 are due by TBA. **

To access online quiz= zes from the homepage, click on “Course Content”. Then click on the link that corresponds with the correct chapter. Click on “Chapter Study Plan” then “Multiple Choice” and/or “True/FalseR= 21;. Select the “20 questions” option. Then begin taking your quiz.<= o:p>

(FYI) You should do t= he chapter Chrono-Sequencer and Flash Card exercises. You may see some of this information on your unit exams.

Please do not wait until the last minute to complete assignmen= ts or take exams. If you have problems accessing WebCT, please contact me earl= y in the week at my personal e-mail address (mleeper@tvcc.edu). Please do not send assignments to my personal e-mail address. My personal e-mail address should ONLY be used when you have difficulty access= ing WebCT. Internet assignments and other course-related e-mail should be sent through WebCT. <= o:p>

If you have a question, please type the word “question” in the subject box. Questions will always receive priority over other e-mail. If you are submitting an assignment, type the t= itle of the assignment in the subject box. It is yo= ur responsibility to make sure all assignments are sent correctly. It is als= o your responsibility to log in daily to check for e-mail and any updates. If your name has changed (as a result of marital status, for example), please notify me immediately. If you feel that you will not be able to abide by the course requirements, you should reconsider taking the course.

For Your Information: The last day to drop this class with a grade of “W” is TB= A. It is your responsibility to drop this course if the need arises.

= Exam Deadlines

ALL exams must be com= pleted before 11:00 p.m. (check with the testing center for times of availabili= ty) on the dates listed below. Remember, ALL exams MUST be taken in a testing center, and it your responsibility to make arrangements with the testing center at least a week in advance= .

Exam #1 MUST be compl= eted by 11:00 p.m. on TBA.<= /span>

Exam #2 MUST be compl= eted by 11:00 p.m. on TBA.<= /span>

Exam #3 MUST be compl= eted by 11:00 p.m. on TBA.<= /span>

The Final Exam MUST be completed by 11:00 p.m. on TBA= .

Gradin= g System

To= determine your seme= ster grade add your four exam grades plus the total number of points you received from the Internet Activities plus total quiz points, and divide by eight. T= he Internet Activities count collectively as 100 points. The quizzes count collectively as 300 points.

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89-80&nbs= p; &= nbsp; B<= /o:p>

79-70&nbs= p; &= nbsp; C

69-60&nbs= p; &= nbsp; D<= /o:p>

below 60 F

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Course Outline

EXAM #= 1 will cover (Chapters 16-18)

XVI. = America’s Gilded Age, 1870-1890 (Chapter 16)

XVII. FreedomR= 17;s Boundaries, at Home and Abroad, 1890-1900 (Ch.17)

XVIII. The Progressive = Era, 1900-1916 (Ch. 18)

EXAM #2 (Chapters 19-21)

XIX. = Safe for Democracy: The United States and World War I, 1916-1920 (Ch. 19)

XX. From Business Culture to Great Depression: The Twenties, 1920-1932 (Ch. 20)=

XXI. = The New Deal, 1932-1940 (Ch. 21)

EXAM #3 (Chapters 22-24)

XXII. Fighting fo= r the Four Freedoms: World War II, 1941-1945 (Ch.22)

XXIII. The United State= s and The Cold War, 1945-1953 (Ch. 23)

XXIV. An Affluent Socie= ty, 1953-1960 (Ch. 24)

FINAL EXAM (Chapters 25-28)=

XXV. The Sixties, 1960-1968 (Ch. = 25)

XXVI. The Triumph of Conservatism, 1969-1988 (Ch. 26)

XXVII. Globalization and its Discontents, 1989-2000 (Ch. 27)

XXVIII. September 11 and the Next American Century (Ch. 28)

Course Goals/Objectives:

The instructor may choose and emphasize course content, determine t= he order of course content, and discuss related topics to United States history from 1877. Some of the discus= sion topics are as follows:

1. = Explain t= he roles of African Americans and Native Americans in the post-Reconstruction period

2. = Know the provisions of the 15^th Amendment to the Constitution. How did it affect women?

3. = Describe = the successes and failures of Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency.

4. = Describe = the causes for the Great Depression that began in 1874.

5. = Explain t= he reasons for the rising power of the Ku Klux Klan.

6. = Trace the= rise of big business in the late 1800s and be able to identify Andrew Carnegie, = John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.

7. = Why did u= nions become important?

8. = Explain t= he basic elements of Social Darwinism.

9. = Describe = the new city of the la= te 1800s.

10. = Describe = the functions of the political boss in the urban political machine.<= /span>

11. = Describe = the lifestyle of Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s.

12. = Identify = some of the various reform movements of the late 1880s.

13. = Explain t= he agenda of the Populist party.

14. = Explain t= he significance of Plessy v. Ferguson.=

15. = Describe American foreign policy in Hawaii, the Pacific, and Latin America.

16. = Describe = the reasons the United S= tates became involved in the Spanish-American War.

17. = Explain t= he significance of the elections of 1896 and 1901.

18. = Why is Th= eodore Roosevelt called the “first modern president”?

19. = Outline t= he major provisions of Roosevelt’s Sq= uare Deal.

20. = Describe = some of the reform goals of the progressives at the local, state, and national level.

21. = Describe Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy in his second term.

22. = Distingui= sh between the progressive programs of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

23. = Describe = the provisions of Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom.

24. = Define the official U.S. policy i= n 1914 toward the war in Europe.

25. = List the = steps that led to the Unit= ed States’ intervention in World War = I.

26. = Describe Woodrow Wilson’s plan for peace in the post-World War I world.

27. = Name some= of the technological developments that shaped American society and its economy= in the postwar period.

28. = Describe = the presidential styles and administrations of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

29. = Identify = some of the artists in music, literature, art, and film who contributed to cultu= ral explosion of the 1920s.

30. = Describe = the effect of prohibition on the social and cultural makeup of the U.S.

31. = Provide s= ome of the reasons for the stock market crash of 1929.

32. = Give some= of the reasons for the onset of the Great Depression and list some of Herbert Hoover’s efforts to fight it.

33. = Explain w= hy the Democratic Party was successful in capturing the presidency in 1932.

34. = Compare a= nd contrast the first two years of the New Deal with the New Deal after 1934.<= o:p>

35. = Evaluate = the significant changes brought about by the New Deal and understand how differ= ent America became as a result of it.

36. = Show how = the Social Security Act and the Works Progress Administration were examples of = the move of the second New Deal toward goals of social reform and justice.=

37. = Describe = the long-term legacy of the New Deal for American politics and life.=

38. = Explain A= dolf Hitler’s rise to power.

39. = Define th= e term blitzkrieg and explain its rele= vance to German military strategy.

40. = Explain t= he shift from neutrality to active military support by the American government= .

41. = Explain t= he reasons for the internment of Japanese Americans and contrast this policy w= ith the treatment of Italian Americans and German Americans during the same per= iod.

42. = Outline t= he factors which influenced the American decision to use the atomic bomb.=

43. = Assess the position of the Unit= ed States on the world stage in the immedia= te postwar period.

44. = Explain t= he implications of the postwar baby boom on modern America.

45. = Identify = Harry S. Truman, George C. Marshall, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.<= /p>

46. = Trace the= rise of anticommunist rhetoric and explain its effect on American domestic and foreign policy.

47. = Explain President Eisenhower’s approach to both domestic and foreign policy.<= o:p>

48. = Explain t= he broader implications of Brown v. Bo= ard of Education.

49. = Describe = how the launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik challenged America’s technological and military superiority.

50. = Describe = the successes and failures of John F. Kennedy’s administration.

51. = Describe = the events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

52. = Explain t= he historical significance of the 1963 march on Washington.

53. = Describe = the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and identify the domestic programs that comprised his “Great Society”.

54. = Explain t= he shift from conciliation to confrontation in the civil rights movement of the mid-1960s.

55. = Describe = the reasons for the shift in the national mood from hopeful and optimistic to a= ngry and suspicious by the end of 1968.

56. = Explain t= he significance of Vietnamization as a cornerstone of Richard M. Nixon’s foreign policy.

57. = List some= of the major accomplishments of the Nixon Administration in foreign affairs outside of Vietnam.

58. = Outline t= he events that culminated in the Watergate scandal.

59. = Identify = some of the policies promoted by Jimmy Carter when he became president in 1976.<= o:p>

60. = Identify = and explain the major parts of the Reagan domestic and foreign policy agenda.

61. = Identify = and explain the historical significance of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SD= I).

62. = Explain t= he circumstances surrounding the Iran-Contra affair.

63. = Identify = two significant pieces of legislation passed during the George Herbert Walker B= ush administration.

64. = Describe = President Bill Clinton’s domestic agenda.

65. = Identify = at least three foreign policy challenges faced by President Clinton in his fir= st term.

66. = Describe = some of the reasons for the resurgence of the Republican Party in 1994.

67. = Explain President George Walker Bush’s surge in popularity during his first t= erm.

Academic Dish= onesty

Trinity Valley Community College’s official policy is that academic dish= onesty is unacceptable and will not be permitted.= Any student caught in an act of scholastic dishonesty will be discip= lined in accordance with TVCC’s regulations and procedures (see TVCC 2008-09 Catalog, pp. 56-57 under “Student Conduct”).<= /p>

Please ask for help when you need it. How else will you learn?