University of Maryland University College Asia
HIST 157: History of the United States since 1865 (CAT)
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Course Description
HIST 157 History of the United States Since 1865 (3) A survey of economic, intellectual, political, and social developments since the Civil War. The rise of industry and the emergence of the United States as a world power are emphasized. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: HIST 157 or HUMN 120.

Course Introduction
The present course is a continuation of the general survey of an introduction to North American, in particular, United States history. It will begin with the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877) following the U.S. Civil War. The foci will be on constitutional, intellectual, socioeconomic, social, cultural, political, and diplomatic themes and developments in American history. Special emphasis will be paid to understanding this history from the diverse perspectives of Americans of all races, ethnic groups, and both genders. The course will examine the Reconstruction period, the Progressive era, the Twenties, the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the tumultuous Sixties, the Civil Rights and modern women's movements, and the period up to the present.

The history of the Unites States is not the narrative of one group. It is a chronicle of many groups and individuals, including Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Native Americans as well as the differing perspectives of men and women. In short, the story of the United States can be compared to a mosaic, combining the rich colors and textures of all the world's cultures and experiences. Recent scholarship attempts to preserve and emphasize the diversity within the broader American experience, enriching but not losing sight of the larger picture formed by the individual segments. As the United States has grown into a dominant world power, this diversity has been a testing ground for the ability of different cultures to live together, albeit sometimes under sometimes challenging circumstances. Today, in the early twenty-first century, a greater appreciation of the complexity of the past and of our contemporary society may offer us the keys for resolving some of the conflicts confronting the United States and the larger world within which we live.

In this course, the organization of topics is mainly chronological, with minor exceptions for thematic reasons. The course comprises seven topics:

  1. Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the Rise of Urban America, 1865-97
  2. The Progressive Era, American Imperialism, and World War I
  3. The Twenties: The Birth of the Modern Era and the Politics of "Normalcy," 1920-32
  4. FDR, The Great Depression, and World War II at Home and Abroad, 1932-45
  5. The Origins of the Cold War and the Culture of Consensus, 1945-60
  6. Social Change and the Limits of American Power, 1960-80
  7. The end of the Cold War, Globalization, and the New Age of Anxiety, 1980-present

Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:
  • Explain and analyze the Reconstruction era, the settling of the West, The Gilded Age, the rise of so-called Progressivism, and the setting of the foundations of modern America
  • Discuss and identify the major causes and impacts of the emergence of the United States as industrial world leader, the evolution of political reforms and women's rights movements, domestically, and U.S. participation in World War I
  • Explain and discuss the turn to isolationism by the United States in the wake of its experiences in world leadership, the failure of the United States to join the League of Nations, the rise of mass society in the 1920s, and the tension between urban and rural America
  • Explain the causes and impacts of the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal and the development of the regulatory-welfare-labor state
  • Discuss the first phase of the Cold War, from its inception until the 1960 election, the McCarthy and HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) congressional actions, society and culture in the 1950s, and the Civil Rights movement and school integration
  • Analyze and explain the second phase of the Cold War, the 1960s, Vietnam, the women's movement, the preponderance of consumer culture, and the new conservative politics
  • Discuss the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the end of the Cold War, U.S. involvement in Middle-East conflicts, the rise of globalization, and current events within historical context.

Course Materials
Required:
  • Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People v. II: since 1863,
    by John M. Murrin, Paul E. Johnson, James M. McPherson, Gary Gerstle, Emily S. Rosenberg, Norman L. Rosenberg, 2002
    Thomson Wadsworth. (ISBN: 9000002133)
  • HIST 157 CAT Course CD-ROM
  • Study Guide to accompany Liberty, Equality, and Power: A History of the American People Volume II: Since 1863

Overview of Lessons

Module 1

Lesson

Chapter Title

1

Ch. 17: Reconstruction, 1863-1877

2

Ch. 18: Frontiers of Change, Politics of Stalemate, 1865-1898

3

Ch. 19: Economic Change and the Crisis of the 1890's

4

Ch. 20: An Industrial Society, 1890-1920

 

Ch. 17-20: Exam 1

Module 2

Lesson

Chapter Title

5

Ch. 21: Progressivism

6

Ch. 22: Becoming a World Power, 1898-1917

7

Ch. 23: War and Society, 1914-1920

8

Ch. 24: The 1920's

 

Ch. 21-24: Exam 2

Module 3

Lesson

Chapter Title

9

Ch. 25: The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1939

10

Ch. 26: America During the Second World War

11

Ch. 27: The Age of Containment, 1946-1954

12

Ch. 28: Affluence and Its Discontents, 1954-1963

 

Ch. 25-28: Exam 3

Module 4

Lesson

Chapter Title

13

Ch. 29: America during its Longest War

14

Ch. 30: America in Transition: Economics, Culture, and Social Change in the Late Twentieth Century

15

Ch. 31: Winds of Change: Politics and Foreign Policy from Ford to Clinton

 

Ch. 29-31: Exam 4

Course Requirements
I hope your experience with History of the United States Since 1865 will be rewarding and meaningful. This course is designed to help ensure your success. The learning system you will use as you work your way through Liberty, Equality, and Power: A History of the American People 3e, has four components: a Student Notebook, a textbook, a study guide, and a CD-ROM. Together they provide an integrated learning system. Completing the following requirements will facilitate your success in this course:
  1. Read through the Student Notebook carefully to be sure that you understand all course objectives, requirements, and assignments.
  2. Review the Learning objectives for each lesson in the Student Notebook.
  3. Complete all of the textbook reading assignments found in the Student Notebook.
    • Review the summary found at the end of each chapter. Each is organized to reinforce the learning objectives stated at the beginning of each chapter.
    • Answer the review and discussion questions for each chapter.
    • Complete all course enhancement exercises/assignments. They are intended to help you apply the theories and concepts covered in the chapter.
  4. Use the supplemental study guide.
  5. Complete all assignments, essays, and exams.
  6. Watch all of the videos found on the CAT Course CD-ROM.
  7. Review the PowerPoint slides and additionally assigned exercises.
  8. Complete the extra-credit option (optional).

Graded Information and Criteria
All exams are proctored by a test administrator. Each exam is worth 100 points. You will also be required to complete two papers, each worth 25 points.

Exams: Each exam will cover material from four chapters of the course text. Exam One will be chapters 1 to 4, Exam Two will be chapters 5 to 8, etc. (See the Overview of Lessons on the previous page.) Each exam will consist of 35 multiple-choice questions and four essay questions. You will be required to answer two of the essay questions. Both the multiple-choice questions and the essay questions are drawn from the study guide. The essay questions are drawn from the section entitled “Discussion and Analysis.” The multiple-choice questions are worth two points each; each essay is worth 15 points.

Papers: Each paper should be 500 to 750 words (2 to 3 pages, double-spaced) in length. Topics for the papers can be found in Section III of the Student Notebook under the words “Possible Paper Topics.” Three topics are given for each chapter. For the first paper, you will be required to choose one topic from any of the eight chapters (24 possibilities); for the second paper, you will be required to choose any topic from the last eight chapters (24 possibilities). The first paper is due when the student takes the second exam; the second is due when the student takes the fourth exam.

Extra-credit assignments: Students will also have the opportunity to submit two extra-credit assignments. Each is worth up to five points. For the assignment(s), students can choose from the list of extra-credit questions on Page 12 & 13 and write a 750 word essay in answer to the question.

Grade Scale
The grading system will be based on total points acquired through the four exams, two required papers, and two extra-credit assignments. All scores will be added together to determine your final semester grade. Your grade for this course will be determined in the following manner:

4 exams @ 100 points each = 400 points

2 required papers @ 25 points each = 50 points

Total = 450 points

2 extra-credit assignments @ 5 points each* = 10 points

Total points possible = 460 points

Test Grade Scale: Course Grade Scale:

Points

Grade

 

Points

Grade

90-100

A

 

405-450

A

80-89

B

 

360-404

B

70-79

C

 

315-359

C

60-69

D

 

270-314

D

59 and below

F

 

269 and below

F

Extra-Credit Options
You may answer one of the questions below from each of the two sets of questions by writing an essay of approximately 750 words (three double-spaced, typed pages). Each extra-credit assignment is worth five points. You may submit just one extra-credit assignment or two. Both assignments can be completed any time up to the time of the last exam. Please mark clearly on the paper that it is an extra-credit assignment. If you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with the assignment, I will return it to you with comments.

Extra-credit set 1

  1. How would two of the following three people view the events of the Reconstruction period: an ex-Union soldier, a white southerner, an African American living in the South? Give reasons for your answer.
  2. Industrialization brought about great societal change, and during periods of great societal change there are winners and there are losers; that is, during periods of great change some people benefit from the changes and some people lose out because of them. Who do you see to be the major winners during this period and who do you see to be the major losers? Give reasons for your answer.
  3. How would four of the following six people respond to the following quote: Andrew Carnegie, Theodore Roosevelt, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a member of the American Federation of Labor, a populist, or a progressive.

    “It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade; Dug the mines and built the workshops; endless miles of railroad laid; Now we stand outcast and starving, 'midst the wonders we have made And that's not fair!!!!”

    Be specific. Give reasons for why each of these people would answer this way.
  4. You are a United States senator, and it is 1919. Write a letter to your constituents explaining why you voted for or why you voted against the ratification of the Versailles Treaty.
  5. Write an essay which agrees or disagrees with the following statement: “It is wrong to think of the 1920's as the “roaring twenties,” a time of only fun and frivolity and mindless fads. The table of the 1920's may have been filled with a plentiful bounty, but beneath the table lurked dark and sinister forces, forces which were anything but frivolous. The decade was actually a somber time, a time when some of the worst features of the American psyche manifest themselves.”

    You can agree or disagree, but your answer should reflect an understanding of both sides of the argument.

Extra-credit set 2

  1. Support or refute the following the statement: “Franklin Roosevelt saved the democracy.”
  2. How is it that the "Red Scare" of the late 1940's and early 1950's came about? What was Joseph McCarthy's role in it? Why did its impact diminish in the 1950's? What do you think Americans learned from this experience?
  3. Dr. Martin Luther King once said that the bombs that America dropped in Vietnam exploded in the cities of America. What do you think he meant by that? Do you agree? Why or why not?
  4. Choose two of the following presidents and compare and contrast their approaches to foreign policy: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, or Bill Clinton.
  5. The book you have read in this course is entitled Liberty, Equality and Power: A History of the American People. Is that a good name for the book? Why or why not? Be specific. Feel free to offer another name that you think would be more appropriate.

All extra-credit work must be submitted before the last exam

Practice Quizzes and Exams
You will have the opportunity to take practice quizzes or exams on the computer before taking a graded paper, quiz, or exam. This practice method is designed to help prepare you for the graded quizzes and exams you will take as required with this course. These Quizzes can be found on the CAT Course CD-ROM or on the Wadsworth History website (For Web site address, see below).

Academic Honesty
As members of an academic community which places a high value on truth and the pursuit of knowledge, students are expected to be honest in every phase of their academic life and to present as their own work only that which is genuinely theirs. Each student has the responsibility to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and to refrain from cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty.

According to UMUC policy, academic dishonesty is the failure to maintain academic integrity. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating (using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise); fabrication (falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise); bribery offered for grades, transcripts, or diplomas; obtaining or giving aid on an examination; having unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination; doing work for another student, presenting another student's work as one's own; and plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to the following: copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions or research without citing the source; or using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score or other artistic product without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by carefully following accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased or summarized, and papers should acknowledge these sources in references. Please use the following websites to educate yourself on avoiding plagiarism and on the UMUC policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

Web links to learn more about plagiarism:

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