Course Description

History 164 is the second part of a two-semester sequence of courses on the history of the United States. This class provides students with an introductory survey of the chief cultural, political, economic, and diplomatic developments in America between the Civil War and the present.

Thematically, the course covers four topics: 1) the evolution of American cultural and social patterns; 2) the role of government in society; 3) the rights of individuals within a multicultural society; and 4) the role of America in the world.

Course Objectives

1) Students will gain factual knowledge.
Students will gain a basic understanding of the periodization and themes in American history from the Civil War to the present.

2) Students will learn fundamental principles, generalizations, and theories.
Students will be taught the fundamental principles of historical scholarship as they encounter traditional and more recent interpretations of the American past.

3) Students will learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.
Students will learn to evaluate primary documents and secondary sources as they consider conflicting historical interpretations.

Required Book

* Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History, Volume II (Seagull Edition)

Attendance

Regular attendance and punctuality are indicative of serious scholarship. You should be in class, awake and aware, and prepared for discussion. Students missing more than five classes may receive a grade reduction at the end of the term. Students who are regularly tardy will be blocked from class.

Attendance and Religious Holy Days

Section 51.911(b) of the Texas Education Code requires that an institution of higher education excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day, including travel for that purpose. A student whose absence is excused under this subsection may not be penalized for that absence and shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment from which the student is excused within a reasonable time after the absence.

SHSU policy 861001 provides the procedure to be followed by the student and instructor.  A student desiring to absent himself/herself from a scheduled class in order to observe (a) religious holy day(s) shall present to the instructor involved a written statement concerning the religious holy day(s). This request must be made in the first fifteen days of the semester in which the absence(s) will occur. The instructor will complete a form notifying the student of a reasonable timeframe in which the missed assignments and/or examinations are to be completed.

Assignments and Grading

In this course, final grades will be based on the following calculations:

* 4 exams each worth 100 points
* Participation worth 100 points

The following grading scale -- based on 500 points -- will be used to calculate final grades:
A = 450-500 | B = 400-449 | C = 350-399 | D = 300-349 | F = below 300 points.

Examinations

Students will complete 4 multiple-choice exams during the term. Each of the exams will cover the section of the course immediately preceding it. The exams will be based on class notes and assigned readings. Review sheets will be distributed before each exam.

Participation

Students should complete reading assignments, attend class, and participate in discussions. Periodically, a pop-quiz, writing assignment, or movie review may be given to determine how well each member of the class has prepared. These participation assignments will require that you attend class and be prepared. No make-ups will be offered, however, you may drop your lowest score.

Classroom Demeanor

HIS 164 is primarily a lecture course. Students are encouraged, however, to ask questions and initiate discussion. The more you engage the material, the better you will learn it. To facilitate an open classroom dialogue, students should not: 1) have cell phones turned on; 2) text message or email; 3) read the school paper or do other homework; 4) leave early or disturb their fellows.

Any violation of these rules will be grounds for dismissal from class. Serious discipline problems may result in your expulsion from the course and a failing grade.


Visitors in the Classroom

Unannounced visitors to class must present a current, official SHSU identification card to be permitted in the classroom. They must not present a disruption to the class by their attendance. If the visitor is not a registered student, it is at the instructor's discretion whether or not the visitor will be allowed to remain in the classroom.

Study Tips

I encourage you to contact me if you are feeling confused or out-of-step with the material we are covering. If you would like additional support, you may also contact the SAM Center ( Student Advising & Mentoring Center ), which helps students improve their note-taking, time management, and study skills. The SAM Center is located in room 210 of AB4. You may make an appointment at the Center by email ( SAMCenter@shsu.edu ) or phone (294-4444).  

Academic Dishonesty

All students are expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of dishonesty in any phase of academic work will be subject to disciplinary action. The University and its official representatives may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of any form of academic dishonesty including, but not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work which is to be submitted, plagiarism, collusion and the abuse of resource materials.

Any violation of the University's Academic Honesty standard will result in a failing grade for the course and a recommendation for University discipline.

Americans with Disabilities Act

It is the policy of Sam Houston State University that individuals otherwise qualified shall not be excluded, solely by reason of their disability, from participation in any academic program of the university. Further, they shall not be denied the benefits of these programs nor shall they be subjected to discrimination. Students with disabilities that might affect their academic performance are expected to visit with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities located next to the Counseling Center . They should then make arrangements with the instructor in order that accommodations can be made to assure that participation and achievement opportunities are not impaired.

SHSU adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. If you have a disability that may affect adversely your work in this class, then I encourage you to register with the SHSU Counseling Center and to talk with me about how I can best help you. All disclosures of disabilities will be kept strictly confidential. NOTE: no accommodation can be made until you register with the Counseling Center.

Instructor's Right to Update Course Schedule

This syllabus is your contract for the course. The instructor will not change the nature of the course, the number of assignments, or the grading system. However, the instructor reserves the right to update the course schedule and reading assignments throughout the term.

Course Schedule

Unit I: America Begins Anew, 1865-1900

August 26: Introduction to Course

August 28: What Historians Do: The Case of Hal Bonney Jr.

Hal Bonney, Jr: newspaper biography | articles and editorials | video

September 2 : The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 | ppt slides in pdf

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 486-509

Primary Sources for Class

Source A: "The Freedmen's Bureau" (FB) from Rise and Fall of Jim Crow [ online ]

Source B: FB Inspection of the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville [ online ]

Source C: Freed people Confined in Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville [ online ]

Source D: "Miscellaneous Records Relating to Murders and Other Criminal Offenses Committed in Texas 1865 - 1868" [ Search page for Huntsville ] [ online ]

Available Resources

Website: Reconstruction: The Second Civil War [ online ]

The Election of 1877 [ online ]

September 4: The New South, 1877-1900 | ppt slides in pdf

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 556-565, 569-70

Available Resources

Film Excerpt in Class: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow , Vol. 1 [ video web site ]

The History of Jim Crow [ online ]

Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America [ online ]

Civil Rights Cases (1883) [ online 1 ] [ online 2 ]

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) [ online 1 ] [ online 2 ]

September 9: The Era of Jim Crow | ppt slides in pdf

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 556-565, 569-70

Available Resources

Film Excerpt in Class: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow , Vol. 1 [ video web site ]

The History of Jim Crow [ online ]

Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America [ online ]

Civil Rights Cases (1883) [ online 1 ] [ online 2 ]

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) [ online 1 ] [ online 2 ]

September 11 to September 18: Out for Hurricane Ike

September 23: The Gilded Age: Industrial Revolution and Corporations, 1877-1900 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 510-520, 533-38

Available Resources

Website: The Corporation [ online ]

Corporation Video: What is a Corporation [ online ]

Corporation Video: Birth of the Corporation [ online ]

Corporation Video: A Legal Person [ online ]

John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, “The Rise of Big Business in America, 1862-1913” from The Company [ online ]

September 25: The Response to Industrialization, Labor, Immigration, and Race | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 538-545, 570

Sources of Worker Unrest [ online ]

Reading -- Group 1: Knights of Labor

Reading: Knights of Labor in Texas [ online ]

Reading: Drawing the Line on Black-White Equality -- Knights of Labor [ online ]

Reading: Haymarket Square [ brief ] [ brief 2 ] [ Chicago ] [ LOC ]

Reading -- Group 2: American Federation of Labor

Reading: Samuel Gompers and the AFL [ online ]

Reading: American Federation of Labor [ online ]

Reading: Samuel Gompers [ online ]

Group -- Group 3: The Homestead Strike

Reading: Homestead Strike Introduction [ online ]

Reading: Andrew Carnegie: Making Money the Old Fashioned Way [ online ]
Read the brief entries under each of the headings.

Reading -- Group 4: Eugene Debs, the American Railway Union, and the Pullman Strike

Reading: Eugene Debs [ online ]

Reading: Pullman Strike [ brief ] [ brief 2 ] [ online ]

September 30: What a Funny Little Government: Politics and Empire, 1877-1900 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 528-38, 549-56, 572-581

Available Resources

Website: The World of 1898 [ online ]

Thomas G. Paterson, "U.S. Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpreting the Spanish American Cuban-Filipino War" [ online ]

EXAMINATION ONE | ONLINE IN BLACKBOARD
AVAILABLE FROM NOON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2 TO NOON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

Unit II: The Rise and Fall of Progressivism, 1900-1929


October 9-14: The Progressive Era: Four Themes and Presidential Leadership | ppt slides

Module: The Themes and Contradictions of the Progressive Era [ online ]

October 16: Shall We Be a Part? America and the Great War | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 620-632

Available Resources

First World War [ online ]

Woodrow Wilson: American Experience [ online ]

October 21: The War to Make the World Safe for Democracy | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 632-659

Available Resources

First World War [ online ]

Woodrow Wilson: American Experience [ online ]

October 23: The Personalities of the 1920s | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 660-688

EXAMINATION TWO | ONLINE IN BLACKBOARD | REVIEW SHEET ONLINE
AVAILABLE FROM NOON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 TO MIDNIGHT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26

Unit III: The Age of Roosevelt, 1929-1945

October 28: The Stock Market Crash, Great Depression, and Herberth Hoover | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 690-695

Available Resources

The Crash of 1929 [ online ]

October 30: Enter Franklin Roosevelt | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 696-708

Available Resources

The Presidents: Franklin Roosevelt [ online ]

November 4 : FDR and the New Deal | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 708-734

November 6: Why We Fight: The U.S. and the Origins of World War II | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Why We Fight -- Digital Project [ online ]

November 11: Fighting World War II | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 736-755

November 13: The Close of World War II | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 755-775

EXAMINATION THREE | ONLINE IN BLACKBOARD | REVIEW SHEET ONLINE
AVAILABLE FROM NOON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 TO MIDNIGHT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Unit IV: The Post-War World, 1945-2001

November 18: The Cold War and the Idea of Freedom, 1945-1953 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 778-791; 797-807

Available Resources

Cold War: Iron Curtain [ online ]

November 20: An Affluent Society, 1953-1960 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 808-833

November 25: The Civil Rights Movement, 1941-1960 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 792-797, 833-844

November 27: Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2: The Kennedy Years: Cold War, Civil Rights, 1960-1963 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 842-854

December 4: From Kennedy to Johnson

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 842-854

December 9: The Johnson Years: Cold War, Civil Rights, 1963-1968 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 854-873; 882-884

December 11: The Nixon Era: From Vietnam to Watergate, 1968-1974 | ppt slides

Reading -- All Students

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, 886-903

FINAL EXAM: DURING SCHEDULED FINAL EXAM PERIOD